WATCH | Game Notes
Charlotte, NC - The Wagner College men's basketball team will take on #1 North Carolina in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on March 21. The game will be played at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC, and will be broadcast on CBS.
First-Ever Tournament Win
Wagner earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory by defeating #16 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.
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.
Council Makes History
With his big night, Council became the first player with 20+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, while shooting 50% or better, playing every minute of the game, and not committing a fouls since assists became official in 1984, according to OptaSTATS.
The Road To The Big Dance
For the first time since 2003, Wagner hoisted the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship trophy, earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in a thrilling, 54-47, victory over #2 Merrimack at Lawler Arena last Tuesday evening.
The Seahawks became the first NEC team to win three road games en route to a conference championship, running the perpetual gauntlet by defeating #3 Sacred Heart and #1 CCSU before dethroning the reigning NEC Champion Warriors.
This year's Wagner team is tied with the 1999 Mount St. Mary's team for the lowest seed to ever win the NEC title after becoming the first team since the 2005 Seahawks to qualify for the NEC championship game as the #6 seed.
Defying The Odds
Wagner has been limited to just seven scholarship players for the entirety of conference play due to injury. The Seahawks have not had a live practice since December 27, 2023.
Wagner In The NCAA Tournament
This year marks Wagner's second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Prior to this year, the Seahawks won their lone NEC championship in 2003, and reached the NEC final in 1993 (losing to Rider), 2005 (losing to FDU), 2016 (losing to FDU), 2018 (losing to LIU), and 2022 (losing to Bryant). No current Wagner player has been to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2003, the #15-seeded Seahawks lost to Pitt 87-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Wagner earned an 88-66 victory over LIU in the NEC quarterfinals, followed by a 61-54 victory over Quinnipiac in the semifinals and a 78-61 triumph in the NEC Championship game against St. Francis Brooklyn.
The 2003 Seahawks won the title behind Wagner Hall of Famer Jermaine Hall, who was a unanimous selection as the 2002-03 NEC Player of the Year. He was also named MVP of the NEC Tournament where he averaged 22.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds in the three games, highlighted by a magnificent 27-point, 12-rebound effort in the championship game win over St. Francis Brooklyn. For his career, Hall is Wagner's second all-time leading scorer with 2,278 points, which also ranks fourth on the NEC all-time scoring list.
In 2002-03, Dereck Whittenburg was head coach of the first Wagner men's basketball team to win the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship and accompanying NCAA Tournament bid. Named the 2002-03 NEC Coach of the Year, 'Whitt" had the distinction of being the first men's basketball coach in Wagner's Division I era with a career winning percentage of over .500 (67-50-overall; 46-30 NEC). Additionally, he was the first Wagner men's basketball coach in the D-I era to achieve two post-season tournament bids. (2002 NIT and 2003 NCAA). All told, he coached and helped develop seven players who went on to play professionally overseas in: Jermaine Hall, Dedrick Dye, Nigel Wyatte, Doug Viegas, Courtney Pritchard, Sean Munson, and DeEarnest McLemore. The coach of an exciting brand of basketball, the former NC State star and member of the 1983 Wolfpack's national championship team under Jim Valvano, Whittenburg's teams led the NEC in scoring in three of his four seasons at Wagner. During his time on Grymes Hill, his teams also paced the league in: FG % (2002-03) 47.0%, 3pt FG % (2002-03) 38.2%, FT% (1999-00) 71.6%, Scoring Margin (2002-03) 3.2, Assists/Game 2X (1999-00) 17.2 (2000-01) 17.3, Steals 2X (1999-00) 309 (2000-01) 292.
Wagner's Dedrick Dye was tabbed as a Verizon Third Team Academic All-American in 2003.
Wagner Coaches In The NCAA Tournament
This marks the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance for head coach
Donald Copeland. As a player at Seton Hall, the Garden State product helped lead them to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in his sophomore (2004) and senior (2006) seasons.
In helping lead the Pirates to an 18-12 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a senior in 2005-06, Copeland led the Hall in a host of statistical categories including scoring (16.1 ppg), assists (4.5), steals (41), three-pointers (71) and free-throw percentage (84.4). For the season, he ranked third in the Big East in assists per game (5.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.69).
As an assistant coach in 2021-22, Copeland was part of a Seton Hall team that earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after compiling a 21-11 record along with an 11-8 mark in Big East play.
Copeland has played in three NCAA Tournament games. He made his NCAA Tournament debut on March 18, 2004 against Arizona. In an 80-76 win, Copeland scored four points off the bench. In the second round of the tournament, Copeland's Pirates lost 90-62 to Duke, who eventually advanced to the Final Four.
As a senior, Copeland's Pirates fell 86-66 to Wichita State in the first round of the tournament as the 10
th seed. Copeland led the Pirates with five assists while contributing 17 points and two rebounds.
Wagner Director of Player Development Malik Boothe appeared in the 2011 NCAA Tournament for St. John's as a senior.
Council Earns All-NEC Honors
Junior
Melvin Council Jr. was named a First Team All-NEC selection.
Voted on by the league's head coaches, Council becomes the first Seahawk to earn First Team All-NEC honors since Alex Morales in 2022.
The league-leader with 35.82 minutes per game during the regular season, Council entered the NEC Tournament ranked fourth in the circuit in scoring (15.3 ppg), eighth in rebounding (5.8), sixth in assists (3.61), and third in assist/turnover ratio (2.02).
Council has scored 20 or more points on six occasions, including two of the last three regular season games, and scored in double figures in 15 of 16 conference games. The Rochester native recorded four double-doubles throughout the regular season.
The first-year Seahawk led the Green and White to a road victory at Saint Francis U on February 15 with the game-winner in overtime as part of a 20-point night.
Merrimack's Jordan Derkack earned Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, while the Warriors' Adam "Budd" Clark was voted Rookie of the Year. CCSU's Patrick Sellers took home Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honors.
Joining Council on the NEC First Team were Derkack, CCSU's Allan Jeanne-Rose, FDU's Ansley Almonor, and Le Moyne's Kaiyem Cleary.
The Tournament MVP
Junior
Tahron Allen earned NEC Tournament MVP honors. Allen delivered a star-studded 22-point outing in the championship game, which matched his career-high in a Seahawk uniform. The junior forward averaged 18.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg over three games to earn Tournament MVP honors.
Joining Allen on the All-Tournament Team from Wagner was Council Jr. Putting up 12 points against the Warriors, he charted 8.7 points and 5.3 boards during the Seahawks' storybook title run.
The Wagner DNA
At 62.1 points per game, Wagner is 6th in the country in scoring defense while also leading the Northeast Conference (NEC).
In three road games in the NEC Tournament, Wagner limited opponents to 35.8% shooting from the field and 53.3 points per game.
Wagner held Howard to 68 points on 38.6% (22-57) shooting from the field.
The Hameline Hat-Trick
Former Director of Athletics and current Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Walt Hameline's last three coaching hires are all represented in the NCAA Tournament this year. UConn's Dan Hurley, Saint Peter's' Bashir Mason, and current Wagner head coach
Donald Copeland all got their head coaching careers started at Wagner.
Downtown Staten Island
Defensively, the Seahawks hold teams to 29.5 shooting from long range, good for 8
th in the country. Wagner held opponents to 24.4% from downtown in the NEC Tournament.
Offensively, Wagner is 5-2 when connecting on nine or more threes per game. The Seahawks made eight threes against the Bison in the First Four.
Ezquerra Reaches Milestone
Junior
Javier Ezquerra eclipsed 250 career assists against Howard. The NEC's active leader has 141 assists on the year and 257 for his career after dishing out eight helpers against Howard.
The Key
Sophomore forward
Keyontae Lewis has scored in double figures in seven of Wagner's last 10 games. He shot 50 percent or better from the field in 13-of-16 NEC regular season games this season and ranked first in the league in field goal accuracy in conference play at 60.9 percent. Against CCSU in the NEC semifinal, Lewis scored 10 points in the game's first six minutes before contributing eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds in the NEC Championship Game. Against Howard, Lewis scored 10 points on 5-7 efficiency.
Brown From Downtown
Sophomore
Julian Brown has connected on two or more threes in six of Wagner's last eight games. The junior scored 15 points against Howard, none bigger than a pair of clutch free throws with under a minute to play. Brown led Wagner with 20 points against CCSU in the NEC semifinals and is averaging 9.7 points on the season.
Taking Care Of The Ball
Wagner's 10 turnovers per game are 36
th in the country and first in the NEC. As a team Wagner's assist/turnover ratio of 1.28 leads the NEC. Individually, the Seahawks have two of the top three players in the NEC in assist/turnover ratio in junior
Javier Ezquerra (2nd / 2.05) and Council (3rd / 1.8).
About Wagner College
Wagner College in New York City supports students on their journey toward professional and personal success. Wagner's comprehensive academic offerings include renowned majors in nursing, business, education and the arts, and growing graduate programs. Wagner boasts a diverse and vibrant community of more than 2,000 students, each of whom completes an internship or other practical, hands-on learning experience during their college career. Through partnerships with industry, government and nonprofits, Wagner forges close ties with the rest of New York City and offers a unique blend of experiential learning opportunities under the Wagner Plan. Wagner's beautiful, 105-acre residential campus on Staten Island overlooks the five boroughs from the second-highest point in the city. Manhattan is a short ferry ride away. A founding member of the Northeast Conference (NEC), Wagner College competes in 27 Division I sports.
The Series
Wagner and North Carolina have never met. The Seahawks are 3-11 all-time against the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), with their last win coming in a 59-54 victory at No. 15 Pittsburgh on December 23, 2011.
Scouting The Tar Heels
North Carolina enters the NCAA Tournament as the #1-seed in the West Region. The Tar Heels finished atop the ACC regular season leaderboard with a 27-7 (17-3) record. They lost in the ACC Championship game against NC State.
The Tar Heels are led by AP All-American guard RJ Davis and All-American honorable mention Armando Bacot. Davis was named ACC Player of the Year and First Team All-ACC, Bacot was on the All-ACC defensive team and was Second Team All-ACC, and Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram was a Third Team All-ACC representative.
West Orange, NJ, native Elliot Cadeau was named to the ACC All-Rookie Team.
Head coach Hubert Davis, in his third season at the helm, was named ACC Coach of the Year.
Next Up
The winner of Thursday's game will take on the winner of Mississippi State – Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
