Wagner holds on for first ever March Madness victory after Howard misses late game-tying free throws

Wagner College is headed to the Round of 64 after their first NCAA Tournament win in school history.

In a First Four matchup of 16 seeds, Howard missed three free-throws late to clinch Wagner’s 71-68 victory.

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 six seconds but missed them all.

Wagner will now face UNC, a No. 1 seed, on Thursday.

The Seahawks earned their trip to the tournament by winning the Northeast Conference — Howard won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Wagner was led by Melvin Council Jr., who scored 21 points — they only had seven players available for all of conference play because of injuries, and only seven players saw the floor on Tuesday night.

Howard’s Seth Towns has now wrapped up his eighth year of college eligibility. The 26-year-old played two years at Harvard, even being named the Ivy League player of the year as a sophomore. He then missed two seasons due to injury. COVID-19 gave him an added year of eligibility, and then he was injured a third season. Add it all up, and that’s why he was able to play in both 2016-17 and 2024-24.

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

UNC won the regular season ACC title but was upset by N.C. State in the conference championship game last week. The Wolfpack entered the tournament as the 10th seed, but won five games in as many days in their 1983 “survive and advance” fashion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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