By Bert Leeson
POSTGAME Q&A WITH DONALD COPELAND
72,636 Donald Copeland Wagner HC On what win means to program First Four 2024 Wagner 71 Howard 68 3 19 2024.mp3
72,643 Donald Copeland Wagner HC The season, NEC Tourney run and win in First Four as a coach Wagner 71 Howard 68 First= Four 3 19 2024.mp3
72,645 Donald Copeland Wagner HC As a former point guard how proud of Melvin Council & Javier Ezquerra of controlling tempo Wagner 71 Howard 68 First Four 3 19 2024.mp3
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.
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.
COURTESY WAGNER ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
