Cinderella Story Continues: Prairie View Wins SWAC Championship, Advances to NCAA Tournament

Prairie View A&M entered the championship matchup riding the momentum of a semifinal victory over Alabama A&M Bulldogs men’s basketball, while Southern Jaguars men’s basketball advanced after the late-game heroics of Michael Jacobs against Florida A&M Rattlers men’s basketball.

Beyond the SWAC title, history was also on the line. A Southern victory would send both the Jaguars’ men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA Tournament field of 68. For Prairie View A&M Panthers men’s basketball, a win would cap a remarkable year that already included a conference football championship.

Prairie View set the tone early, jumping out to a 6–1 lead as their “Cinderella” run continued. Southern gradually began to settle in, trimming the deficit to 10–8 with 13:21 remaining in the first half.

After a 2:04 scoring drought, Prairie View’s Tai’Reon Joseph knocked down a key three-pointer to spark the Panthers again. By the 11:38 mark of the half, Joseph had already scored eight points to lead Prairie View.

Momentum continued to build for the Panthers, and with 5:32 remaining before halftime, Prairie View had stretched its advantage to 14 points.

Southern struggled to find its offensive rhythm during that stretch. Three turnovers in a three-minute span stalled any potential comeback and allowed Prairie View to maintain control.

Following a timeout, Southern responded with a brief surge. The Jaguars went on a 7–0 run and connected on four of their next five field-goal attempts to trim the deficit to 10. But just before the halftime buzzer, Prairie View’s Dontae Horne drilled a step-back three-pointer to push the lead back to 13.

Southern never held a lead in the first half but received a strong lift from its bench, which produced 20 points, including 11 from Jacobs.

Prairie View’s efficiency from beyond the arc proved to be a major difference in the opening half. The Panthers shot 55 percent (6-of-11) from three-point range, while Southern managed just 20 percent.

At halftime, Prairie View held a commanding 41–28 lead.

Coming out of halftime, the Panthers continued their impressive three-point shooting, quickly extending their lead to 19 points within the first two minutes of the second half. By the 18-minute mark, Williams and Wells had combined for 26 points, nearly matching Southern’s total of 28 points as a team.

After a timeout, the Jaguars mounted a brief comeback, cutting the deficit to 15 with two quick buckets. But Prairie View’s offensive clinic persisted, shooting 58 percent from the field with 12 minutes remaining. Southern’s AJ Barnes accounted for eight of the team’s 11 points by that stage, and only one other player besides Barnes and Michael Jacobs had scored more than a single point.

Southern made one final push late in the game. A five-point run by Cam Amboree cut the Panthers’ lead to six with 4:39 left, and Damariee Jones’s layup trimmed it further to four with 2:43 remaining. Despite the late surge, Prairie View held firm, closing out the game 72–66 to capture the SWAC Men’s Basketball Championship.

Prairie View’s remarkable Cinderella run now continues as they await word on who and where they will play in the NCAA Tournament field of 68, with the selection set to be revealed Sunday at 6:00 PM EDT on CBS..