Dayton, OH - For the first time in program history, the #16-seed Wagner men's basketball team earned an NCAA Tournament victory by defeating #16-seed Howard, 71-68, in the First Four of the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday.
Junior Melvin Council Jr. led all scorers with 21 points on a 10-for-18 shooting clip. The Rochester native played all 40 minutes and contributed five rebounds and seven assists on the night as well.
Sophomore Julian Brown scored 15 points on 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc, while fellow sophomore Keyontae Lewis and junior Tahron Allen joined Council Jr. and Brown in double figures with ten apiece.
Junior Javier Ezquerra dished out eight assists, surpassing 250 career assists at Wagner.
Wagner controlled the tempo of the game and limited the nation's 20th ranked three-point shooting team to just seven made threes. Overall, the Bison shot 29.2% from deep and 38.6% from the field.
After leading for a majority of the game, Howard cut Wagner's lead to one point with 17 seconds remaining. Two clutch free throws by Brown pushed the lead back up to three and the Bison's attempts at tying the game all fell short.
This marks the first ever NCAA Tournament victory for the Seahawks. After running the perpetual gauntlet to win the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament, Wagner persevered past the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champions to continue their season.
Early on, the Seahawks took a 7-6 lead off of an Allen lay-in. From there, the Seahawks never trailed as Council Jr. supplied plenty of offense in the first half.
The team's leading scorer on the year scored 13 first half points on 6-of-9 shooting to help lead the Seahawks into the intermission with a 38-27 lead. The defense did its part as well to complement the scoring output from Council Jr., limiting the Bison to just eight made field goals.
A crucial 23-6 run separated the Green & White from the pack. Back-to-back threes by junior Tyje Kelton and Ezquerra increased the lead to a game-high 17 with 5:32 to go in the opening 20 minutes. The half closed on a 15-9 run for the Bison.
But the Seahawks weren't fazed as they jumped out of the break on a 10-4 run. A responding 10-2 run by Howard pushed the differential back to single digits, but a three by Kelton put the lead back up to ten at 57-47 with just over ten minutes left.
Wagner led by 13 with 4:28 to go after a lay-in by Lewis, but consecutive threes by the Bison shifted the momentum, making it a 67-60 game with 2:29 to go and forcing head coach Donald Copeland to take a timeout.
Even with Howard closing the gap to one possession, the Seahawks remained poised and survived to see another day in the NCAA Tournament.
The Seahawks will advance to the Round of 64 where they will take on #1-seed North Carolina on Thursday at 2:45 pm in Charlotte, NC.
