SWAC Tournament Showdown Set as Panthers, Jaguars Meet in Semifinals

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (Interstat) — A spot in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship will be on the line Saturday when the Prairie View A&M Panthers face the Southern Jaguars in a men’s NCAA Division I basketball semifinal.

The matchup at Gateway Center Arena pits two .500 teams riding winning streaks into March. Fourth-seeded Southern (17-15) has won five consecutive games, while fifth-seeded Prairie View A&M (17-17) has won six straight.

The teams split their regular-season series, each winning on the other’s home court. Southern claimed the most recent meeting, 87-82 on Feb. 14, behind a balanced scoring attack. Prairie View A&M took the first game, 89-85 on Jan. 5, fueled by a dominant performance from guard Dontae Horne.

Horne enters as the tournament’s most explosive player, averaging 26.7 points over his last nine games. He is coming off a 25-point, 5-rebound, 6-assist effort in Friday’s 74-55 quarterfinal rout of Alabama A&M. During the Panthers’ six-game surge, the guard has scored 30 or more points three times.

Southern counters with its own depth and momentum. The Jaguars edged Florida A&M 73-70 in their quarterfinal, led by 19 points from Michael Jacobs. Guard DaMariee Jones provides steady backcourt play, while Cam Amboree dished out seven assists in the latest win.

The game will be a contrast in styles. Prairie View A&M leans heavily on Horne’s high-volume scoring and playmaking. Southern employs a more distributed offense, with six players averaging between 8 and 15 points per game during its win streak.

The winner will advance to Sunday’s SWAC tournament final, where an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament awaits.

Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 8:30 p.m. EDT Saturday.