NORTH ANDOVER – A sold-out, rambunctious crowd packed Lawler Arena on Tuesday night with the hope of seeing the Merrimack College men’s basketball team win the Northeast Conference Championship, which would be an automatic bid to its first-ever Division 1 NCAA Tournament.
Instead, all of the fans left the Lawler Arena with broken hearts.
The No. 6 seed Wagner pulled out an unimaginable upset, beating the No. 2 seed Warriors at their home court, 54-47, which ends Merrimack’s season and thoughts of competing in March Madness, which will get underway next week in Dayton, Ohio.
Merrimack closes out the season with 21 wins, the most in program history since moving from Division 2 to Division 1 five years ago.
For more on the game, and the team’s incredible season, please turn to sports, Page A9.