Horn Drops 26 as Prairie View Holds Off Alcorn State

Prairie View A&M survived an early scare and a spirited second-half comeback attempt to knock off Alcorn State 65-56 in SWAC Tournament action, with Dontae Horn leading all scorers with 26 points to advance the Panthers to the next round.

It was Alcorn State that came out firing. The Braves, who limped into the tournament at 9-22 overall and 7-11 in conference play, wasted no time reminding the Panthers that records don’t always tell the whole story. Nick Woodard and Jameel Morris fueled a blistering 9-0 opening run over the first five minutes, and Alcorn State carried a double-digit advantage before Prairie View even found its footing.

Lance Williams finally ended the drought with a three-pointer, and the Panthers chipped away slowly from there. Tai’reon Joseph, Prairie View’s leading scorer at 20.6 points per game, attacked the basket for a driving layup to bring the deficit to six, and Williams followed with a turnaround jumper to cut it to three. By halftime, Prairie View had trimmed the gap to 26-23 on a Williams three-point play, but Alcorn State still held the edge heading to the break.

The second half opened with more of the same give and take. Horn, who had been sizzling over his last ten games at 26.7 points per contest, kept the Panthers in striking distance with relentless drives to the basket. Alcorn State’s Omari Hamilton and Jameel Morris answered each time Prairie View threatened, and it wasn’t until the 14-minute mark that the Panthers finally tied the game at 34-34, briefly taking the lead on a pair of Elijah Mitchell free throws.

The lead continued to swing back and forth, but Prairie View steadily began to pull away around the midpoint of the second half. Horn gave the Panthers the lead for good at the 8:54 mark, and Cory Wells provided the dagger, a three-pointer that pushed the advantage to 53-45 with the game winding down. Lance Williams added another basket to extend it to 55-45, and though Omari Hamilton nailed a late three to try to spark something, it was far too little, too late.

Prairie View finished the job at 65-56. Horn’s 26-point performance paced the Panthers, whose offense, which had averaged 78.8 points per game over their last ten, proved too much for an Alcorn State defense that had been surrendering 73.2 points per game in that same stretch. The Panthers will now face top-seeded Bethune-Cookman tomorrow at 2 p.m. EDT.