Madison, NJ ... The College of New Jersey men's basketball team used a tremendous second-half to erase an 18-point deficit at the intermission, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham 69-65 on Monday night in Madison, NJ.
 
The Lions (7-4) used runs of 10-0 and 25-2 after the break to stun the Devils on their home floor. Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) continued his torrid play, leading TCNJ with 27 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. The sophomore guard entered the game ranked first in the New Jersey Athletic Conference in free throw percentage at 94 percent and proceeded to drain a scalding 20-of-22 foul shots, including three in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory.
 
Sophomore Lance Taylor (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) played a big role in the scoring chaos, netting seven straight points in just over a minute in the second period. He finished with 10 points, while sophomore Steven Kelly (Newton, NJ/Newton) added nine points and six boards.
 
The Lions struggled offensively in the opening period. They shot just 26 percent from the floor. Down by 18 at the break, TCNJ came out and rattled off 10 unanswered points to shrink the deficit to eight. But the Devils responded with an 8-1 run of their own to stretch the lead back to 50-35 with 13 minutes remaining.
 
A Murdock, Jr. three-point field goal was followed by a layup by junior Nick Alaimo (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough). The twosome both found net on ensuing jumpers and when Murdock, Jr. dropped in a pair of free throws, the Lions had drawn within 50-46 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
 
With 7:18 left, Alaimo took a feed from freshman Jordan Glover (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence) and knocked down a shot from behind the arc to cut the FDU lead to one. After Murdock, Jr. copped his fourth steal of the game, he was fouled and cashed in on both free throws. That gave TCNJ its first advantage since a 2-0 lead in the opening minute.
 
The Devils called a timeout to regroup, but a missed jumper gave the Lions the ball back. Taylor capitalized with three-point daggers on back-to-back possessions and converted a free throw off of a technical foul. Suddenly TCNJ boasted a 60-52 lead with 4:13 to play.
 
Both teams traded punches down the stretch and FDU narrowed its margin to one point, but the Lions took care of business from the charity stripe to claim their third straight win.
 
Glover scored eight points in the game and Alaimo finished with seven points. Sophomore Elias Bermudez (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Murdock, Jr. also entered the game ranking second in the NJAC in scoring at 19.5 points per game and first in assists at 6.4 per contest.
 
The Lions return to New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Wednesday night when they visit Ramapo College for an 8 p.m. tip-off. The Roadrunners are 7-5 overall this season and 3-2 in the conference.