Box score

Willimantic, CT … The College of New Jersey men's basketball team suffered another tough setback as they lost at Eastern Connecticut State University 71-68.

The Lions (0-4, 0-0 NJAC) battled from behind, but came up just short as the Warriors (3-1) held on for their third win of the year at Geissler Gymnasium. 

Sophomore Donovan Smalls (Union, NJ/Union) scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor as TCNJ did shoot the ball better from the perimeter. Junior Al Matlock (Trenton, NJ/Solebury) drained four three-pointers on six attempts to finish with 12 points, but the Lions played catch-up from start to finish and were unable to wrestle the game from ESCU's grasp.

TCNJ cut the deficit to one on a pair of free throws from junior Dan Bucher (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) to make it a 68-67 game with just over a minute remaining. The Warriors Joe Ives hit one of two free throws, giving the Lions a chance to tie or win the game, but they simply couldn't get the big shot they needed to earn their first win of the season.

The Warriors held a 33-27 advantage at halftime. Eight players contributed points on 14-of-30 shooting to sustain the lead throughout the first half.

Smalls carried the Lions through the opening 20 minutes tallying 12 of TCNJ's first 16 points of the game. The junior guard hit six of his first eight shots from the floor to finish the half with 16 points. Coming off of a season-best 21 points against Penn State University-Brandywine earlier in the week, Smalls is establishing himself as a formidable weapon on offense.

The Warriors took command after the break stretching the lead to 56-44 with 9:37 remaining, but the Lions stormed back to cut the lead to three. Matlock knocked down a pair of three-point shots before senior Steve Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) scored four straight points to narrow the margin to 57-54.

Minutes later, TCNJ trailed 62-57, but Matlock took a pass from freshman Daniel Balevski (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor South) and drilled his fourth trey of the game to trim the lead 62-60. Balevski contributed quality minutes off the bench as he also hit a couple free throws, and fed Smalls off a steal for a basket to close the gap to 66-65 with 1:48 left in the game.

TCNJ shot over 46 percent from the field (25-of-54) and was 6-of-14 from behind the arc. ESCU won the battle under the boards as they out-rebounded the Lions 37-27.

Siracusa finished with 10 points and led TCNJ with five boards. Sophomore Brandon Johnson (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) hit all four of his shots to finish with nine points, while Bucher chipped in with six points. The Warriors had four players in double figures led by Broderick Sawyer who had 12 points.

The Lions return home tomorrow night to square off against Berkeley College in Packer Hall at 7 p.m.