DAYTON, Ohio — Wagner began March Madness with its first ever win in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 21 points from Melvin Council Jr. and resisting a late comeback by Howard to secure a 71-68 victory in the First Four on Tuesday evening.
The Seahawks, champions of the Northeast Conference, with a record of 17-15, progressed as the No. 16 seed in the West Region and will face top seed North Carolina on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Howard was behind by 17 points early in the second half but managed a late 14-2 spurt, coming within 69-68 after Bryce Harris' layup with 18 seconds remaining. Following Julian Brown's two successful free throws for Wagner, Howard attempted three 3-pointers in the last 6 seconds but missed all of them.
Brown ended with 15 points for the Seahawks, who previously appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2003 — one year before their coach, Donald Copeland, participated in the tournament as a player for Seton Hall.
Harris and Seth Towns each scored 16 points for Howard (18-16), the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, who were also seeking their first March Madness victory. The Bison made it to the tournament for the second consecutive season under coach Kenny Blakeney, a national title winner as a player for Duke in 1992.
Tahron Allen's layup at 16:42 in the first half put Wagner in the lead at 7-6, and they maintained the lead throughout the game. They established a 17-point lead in the first half and duplicated that lead early in the second half.
Wagner had an overall shooting percentage of 52.7% and 47.1% (8 of 17) from 3-point range, while holding Howard to 38.6% from the field.
Allen and Keyontae Lewis each ended with 10 points as all seven Seahawks who played scored. Wagner had only seven players available for all of conference play due to injuries.
