Late rally falls short for MEAC champion

DAYTON, Ohio — Wagner kicked off March Madness with the first NCAA Tournament win in program history, getting 21 points from Melvin Council Jr. and holding off a late rally by Howard to win 71-68 in the First Four on Tuesday night.

The Northeast Conference champion Seahawks (17-15) advanced as the No. 16 seed in the West Region and will play top seed North Carolina on Thursday.

“To have the first NCAA Tournament victory in school history, it’s huge,” second-year Wagner coach Donald Copeland said. “It’s huge for the school, the program and these guys, man, that have gone through so much, man, to continue to build and continue to write their own season the way they needed to.”

Howard trailed by 17 points early in the second half but went on a late 14-2 run, closing within 69-68 on Bryce Harris’ layup with 18 seconds left. After Julian Brown hit a pair of free throws for Wagner, Howard attempted three 3-pointers in the last 6 seconds but missed them all.

Brown finished with 15 points for the Seahawks, who made their only previous NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003 — one year before Copeland made the first of his two appearances in the tourney as a player for Seton Hall.

Harris and Seth Towns scored 16 points apiece for Howard (18-16), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion, which was also seeking its first March Madness win. The Bison made it to the tourney for the second straight season under coach Kenny Blakeney, who won a national title as a player for Duke in 1992.

Wagner shot 52.7% overall and 47.1% (8 of 17) from 3-point range while holding Howard to 38.6% from the field.

“We still were able, I think, to get three great looks at the basket,” Blakeney said. “But sometimes the basketball gods are with you and sometimes they’re not.”