College hoops: Social media goes bonkers after Wagner — with only 7 players — wins NEC title to make Big Dance

Social media is going bonkers over Wagner College’s unthinkable run through the Northeast Conference Tournament, the culmination coming Tuesday night when the No. 6 seeded Seahawks toppled second-seed Merrimack, 54-47, in the title game in Massachusetts.

It was the third straight tournament win by Wagner, which beat No. 3 seed Sacred Heart in the quarters and then defeated top-seeded Central Connecticut State in the semifinals before disposing of Merrimack. All the wins came on the road.

The Seahawks, with a less-than-sterling 16-15 record now, reached the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history with the first coming in 2003.

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Making Wagner’s run more improbable was that coach Dan Copeland, a former Seton Hall star and assistant coach at the same school where he played, has had just seven healthy players for two-thirds of the season.

“I knew some guys were banged up and were going to try to fight through some things,” Copeland told reporters recently. “And then I guess I wasn’t ready for the added injuries. But honestly, if I told you I know what I’m doing, or knew what I was doing, I’d be lying to you. To have seven players, you kind of have to learn on the fly with it.”

A depleted roster also affects how Copeland coaches games, but limits what the team can do in practices since they haven’t gone live (with 5-on-5 drills) since early December.

“My coaches have been great, filling in as token players,” Copeland said. “The guys who are injured are involved in the program every day. They’ve turned into coaches. The (healthy guys) have allowed me to hold…