NORFOLK, Va. — Jordan Hairston scored 18 points and Bryce Harris and Seth Towns each scored 16 points as Howard beat Delaware State 70-67 on Saturday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship to clinch a bid to the NCAA tournament .
Harris' jumper broke a 60-all tie with 4:18 left and the Bison led the rest of the way, but not without late drama.
Hairston made two free throws with six seconds left to take a 70-66 lead. Out of bounds, Delaware State's Deywilk Tavarez dribbled down the court at full speed and with 2.2 seconds left he launched a 3-point attempt and was fouled by Jelani Williams.
Tavárez made the first free throw and missed the second, and his attempt to deliberately miss the third for a desperation rebound and three-point attempt failed when his shot attempt bounced off the backboard and missed the rim. Howard came in to finish the game.
Marcus Dockery scored 15 points for fourth-seeded Howard (18-16), which is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year for the first time in school history. Howard defeated top-seeded Norfolk State on its way to the championship game.
Jevin Muniz scored 24 points and Martaz Robinson 16 for the sixth-seeded Hornets (15-18), who saw their improbable MEAC streak end.
The Hornets last beat Howard on March 5, 2020. Delaware State entered having beaten second-seeded North Carolina Central and third-seeded South Carolina State.
The Hornets were seeking their first conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Delaware State finished the regular season having lost four of five games.
The Bison were without Dom Campbell, Shy Odom, Ose Okojie and AJ Magbegor due to injuries. During the season, players in Howard's rotation missed a total of 78 games, ranking him among the top five in the country.
Howard led 40-34 at halftime thanks to 8 of 17 3-point shooting. With the exception of a 2-0 deficit, the Bison led for 19:09 of the first 20 minutes. Towns' layup with 3:59 left before halftime gave Howard a 33-23 lead, the only double-digit lead either team had.
Towns, 26, is an eighth-grade senior and has had a career marked by injuries. His playing career began at Harvard in 2016-17 before the Columbus, Ohio, native transferred to Ohio State and suffered a series of season-ending injuries before transferring to Howard.
