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NCAA Tournament: Howard comeback attempt falls short

Bryce Harris, Howard University

Howard University showed its resiliency all season but fell a bit short of in the NCAA Tournament, falling to NEC champion Wagner in the First Four.

Wagner defeated Howard 71-68 in Dayton, OH in the First Four. It will face North Carolina in Charlotte on Thursday. 

Melvin Council scored a game-high 21 points for Wagner, who had four players score in double figures in its first-ever NCAA Tournament win. 

Wagner led by as many as 17 points in the first half, going up 29-12 at one point before Howard woke up. Howard went on a 15-9 run to close the half to go into the locker room trailing 38-27 at halftime. 

Seth Towns, Howard University
Seth Towns finished with 16 points for Howard.

The second half started poorly for Howard as Wagner went on an 8-0 run that eventually saw it lead by 17 early on in the second half. Howard responded with an 11-2 run of its own to cut the lead to 50-42 with just under 13 minutes remaining.

Wagner kept a double-digit lead for most of the second half, but Howard’s 3-point shooting came alive with shots by Marcus Dockery and Seth Towns. HU went on a 14-4 run over the last three-plus minutes of the game to get it down to a one possession game. But Howard missed on three 3-point attempts in the final seconds, ending its shot at its first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

Seth Towns and Bryce Harris led Howard with 16 points each.  Howard finished the season 18-17.

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