Wagner will be going dancing for the first time in more than 20 years.
The Seahawks defeated Merrimack 54-47 on Tuesday night in North Andover, Mass., to win the NEC title and become the first local college team to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
It will be the program’s second trip to the Big Dance, the first being in 2003 when Wagner entered as a No. 15 seed but lost to Pittsburgh in the first round.
The conference title and tournament appearance came in head coach Donald Copeland’s second year leading the program and while the Seahawks played with just seven healthy players.
Wagner tied for sixth place, the lowest seed in the conference to win a league tournament crown, marking the first time since 2005 that a seed this low has advanced to the championship game.
The scene inside Lawler Arena was one of elation as fans of the small Staten Island-based university counted down the seconds until the end of the game, then the players kneaded each other in celebration across from the team bench. It became.
Wagner led for most of the night, but Merrimack took an interesting turn midway through the second half when sophomore forward Brian Etumnu hit a 3-pointer with 8:07 left to erase Wagner’s 10-point lead. gone.
The shot briefly gave the Warriors the lead, but the Seahawks regained the lead on a free throw from Wagner, guard Taron Allen and a jumper from guard Javier Ezquerra.
After regaining the lead, Wagner finished the game on a 10-4 run.
Allen scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, along with seven rebounds and one assist.
Junior Melvin Council scored 12 points and pulled down four boards.
Wagner made 22 of 49 shots for a total lead of 29 minutes, 44 seconds, building his largest lead at 41-30 in the second half.
Considering this year’s NEC Tournament had to be played completely away from Staten Island, traveling to Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals and Central Connecticut State in the semifinals, Wagner could easily play against the Road Warriors. He would have been called.
The Seahawks went 16-15 during the regular season, finishing with a 7-9 conference record, including a heartbreaking loss at home to Merrimack.
Council told the Post before Tuesday’s game that Wagner was ready to “beat them on his home floor.”
Stony Brook Falls
Lane Smith scored 8 of his 23 points in overtime and made six 3-pointers as top-seeded Charleston (27-7) defeated seventh-seeded Stony Brook (20-7) on Tuesday night. (15 wins, 15 losses), 82-79, and won the Coastal Championship. Bid by the Athletic Association Tournament and the NCAA for the second consecutive season.
