Wagner College faces No. 1 seed UNC in today’s NCAA Tournament

NEW YORK — March Madness is in full effect, with Staten Island’s Wagner College taking on No. 1 seed North Carolina in first round action Thursday.

Wagner heads to the big dance with a short-handed team of just seven players. 

The school is on spring break but plans to hold a watch party at 2 p.m. before the game tips off at 2:45 p.m. 

“This is huge for Wagner, on a lot of fronts. For both our student athletes, for our athletic program, but also the wider campus community — both at Wagner, but our alumni,” Assistant Dean of Campus Life Thomas Gelok said. “Being here on Staten Island, being part of Staten Island is part of our school identity, and we know that we have the entire community behind us. So it’s a great opportunity for us to really celebrate and show off who we are.”

CBS New York’s Christina Fan spoke with students on campus ahead of the matchup.

“The support is resoundingly positive, even when we beat Howard a couple nights ago. The campus is pretty empty, it’s spring break, I could still hear it resounding through the building when we won. So everyone’s super excited,” senior Riku Toyhohara said. 

“I’m super proud, I think we’re all super proud of them, especially the whole Wagner community. They’ve faced many challenges this year due to injuries, and they’ve had to overcome the adversity. And that’s kind of what Coach Copeland speaks about, that’s just the culture they’ve built as a team,” said Damien Mazil, a sophomore who was a practice player on the team for a time. “We can’t wait to see them play today.”  

“Seven players is very hard to play with, and for them to be super conditioned, especially because every single player is playing good minutes for them,” said Marissa Sanchez-Henry, a senior nursing major on the women’s basketball team. “Basketball is not only a mental game, it’s a physical game as well. But it’s super hard, and all credit to them.”

The Seahawks are still on a high after their first NCAA Tournament win in school history. They’re hoping their grit and determination catapults them to another win Thursday afternoon in Charlotte.

Tuesday night, the men’s basketball team defeated Howard University in a first four matchup. The 71 to 68 victory earned them a spot in the big dance, inspiring fellow student athletes and the community.

“Fight through the adversity, like they did,” sophomore and softball player Payton Janicki said 

“We’re taking that as motivation to excel for the season,” senior and softball player Samantha Tran added. 

“This is an underdog story. Having seven kids go out there, battling against these big schools, it’s going to be unbelievable,” said Robert Casatelli, co-owner of The Kettle Black Bar. 

The Staten Island team has already preserved through so much adversity this season. Six players were injured, leaving only about half the team healthy enough to play.

The team says it’s accustomed to taking on challenges shorthanded.

“Seven players, so it’s so unreal. We are just excited to be here,” Melvin Council Jr. said.

“We take pride in putting on for our Tri-State Area, where we come from,” Tahron Elliott said. 

“Never let us fall into doubt, or I never dumbed-down our expectations,” said Coach Donald Copeland.

To avoid more injuries, the team has been holding no-contact practices for months. Their coach calls it unconventional, but they’ve persevered this long. 

The Seahawks may be the underdog, but they’ve made some undeniable achievements this season. They are ranked sixth in the nation for scoring defense, averaging 62.1 points per game.

Their first-round matchup begins at 2:45 p.m. against the UNC Tar Heels.