DAYTON, Ohio — Melvin Council Jr. scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first half and the Wagner Seahawks held off a furious charge from the Howard Bison to capture their first-ever NCAA Tournament win, 71-68, Tuesday night.
Julian Brown added 15 points, and Keyontae Lewis and Tahron Allen chipped in 10 points apiece for Wagner (17-15) in the opener of the annual First Four at the University of Dayton.
Brown sank both ends of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 14.2 seconds remaining to extend Wagner’s lead to three points. Howard missed three chances at a game-tying three, including Marcus Dockery’s attempt that hit the rim as time expired.
The 16th-seeded Wagner, which was the 68th and final team in the NCAA field, advances to play West Region top seed North Carolina on Thursday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. It was the Seahawks’ second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the other coming in 2003.
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Howard (18-17), which entered the game having won seven of eight, was led by Seth Towns and Bryce Harris, each with 16 points. Howard used a late 14-2 run to pull within 69-68 with 17 seconds left.
Trailing by 13 with 4:26 left, Howard began its charge, cutting the deficit to 67-60 with 2:24 remaining on consecutive 3-pointers from Dockery and Towns.
After Allen lost the ball out of bounds, Harris drove the paint and was fouled. He made both free throws with 1:48 left and Howard was within five, 67-62. But Council drove to the basket on the next possession, hit a bank shot and was fouled.
Isiah Warfield made a layup to get the Bisons within five again, and then capitalized on a steal by Dockery for another layup to make it 69-66 with 1:02 to play.
After Council missed a with 32 seconds left, Harris drove the paint and converted a layup to cut the lead to one, 69-68, with 17 seconds remaining.
–By Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media