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.
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.