Wagner short on bodies, big on battle in NCAA win
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN
- Elder WriterMar 19, 2024, 10:39 PM ET Close College football press reporter.
- Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008.
- Graduate of Northwestern University.DAYTON, Ohio– When
Wagner’s lead shrank from 13 points to one in the last three minutes of Tuesday night’s First Four match versus Howard, coach Donald Copeland kept his composure.His group, rather actually, was on the flooring, and he prepared
to ride with it up until completion.”It’s not far of a look down the bench, right?” Copeland
said. “You have actually got to be calm.” Wagner had made its improbable go to the NCAA tournament with a lineup of seven healthy players. The 16th-seeded Seahawks will create on with the same group after outliving Howard 71-68 for the school’s first NCAA competition win.Copeland’s stunning 7 advanced in the West Area and will deal with No.
1 seed North Carolina on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina. “This is incredibly difficult,” guard Julian Brown said.”You would never think that we would come into March Madness with seven players and win. It’s definitely been surreal, it’s certainly been crazy, however we have actually got self-confidence in our guys.”Editor’s Picks 2 Related Brown hit two free throws with 14.9 seconds left– suffering an authorities’blockage in between to reset
the clock– and indicated his wrist each time. After Howard missed 3 3-point attempts that would have tied the game before the buzzer, Brown again tapped his wrist, shrieking”Game time!”to the crowd. “My favorite player is Damian Lillard, I appreciate him, design my game after it, “stated Brown, who finished with 15
points.”Whenever he makes a clutch basket, he says,’ It’s time, it’s time.'”Brown was among 3 Wagner players to play all 40 minutes in the win, joining fellow guards Melvin Council
Jr.(21 points, 7 helps, 5 rebounds)and Javier Ezquerra (8 assists). Endurance is the only option for a team that lost standout Rahmir Moore and other crucial contributors to injuries, consisting of the majority of its front line.Wagner hasn’t held a practice with contact since December, and it needed the coaches to actively participate to replicate game situations.
The team dropped 3 straight in January and 4 of its last 5 regular-season games however sparked in the Northeast Conference tournament, removing the top three seeds to reach the NCAA tournament for the very first time considering that 2003.”I would imagine some places, they may can be found in the health club and state,’Hey, listen, we got 7, let’s go through the motions,'”Copeland stated. “We never did that.
We prepared the proper way. We anticipated to win even when we did lose.”Copeland had predicted four of the hurt players as beginners and two as rotation players. But the group that stayed healthy created on.Men’s Competition Difficulty Total your bracket by selecting the winner for each game of the 2024 guys’s NCAA competition
. Play Guys’s Competition Obstacle Council, a first-team all-league choice, said playing short-handed in the NCAA competition made”no
distinction,”although he kept in mind that Wagner didn’t want the game to reach overtime. In the huddle after Howard cut Wagner’s result in one, Council, who was 0-of-3 from the foul line, told Brown to get the ball on an inbounds play.” He’s the best, “Ezquerra said of Brown.” I know he was going to make it. He’s positive. He’s built for these moments.
“Howard, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champ, had been flustered by Wagner’s defense most of the game however surged
late behind Bryce Harris and Isiah Warfield. However after Brown’s free tosses, the Bison could not discover the definitive basket as Jordan Hairston( two times )and Marcus Dockery missed from 3-point variety. Forward Seth Towns, a 26-year-old in his 8th college season after playing for both Harvard and Ohio State, completed his career with 16 points, connecting Harris for the group high.Despite four turnovers in the final 3:18, Wagner did enough to keep playing in the competition.”We have actually just got seven guys, so late game, often we get a bit tired,”Brown stated.”However Coach does in every practice, he pushes us through misfortune. So we’re not rattled.
We stated,’Whatever takes place, let’s simply finish this game.’ “