Middletown, PA... Behind 24 points and 12 rebounds from transfer senior Corey Stanford (Pittsburgh, PA / Penn Trafford), The College of New Jersey men's basketball team lead wire-to-wire and defeated Geneseo State 79-68 in the opening round of the Penn State Harrisburg Tip-off Tournament Saturday afternoon.

The Lions opened the game on a 9-2 run, with five points coming from junior Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ / Bridgewater) and four from Stanford. Murdock, Jr. would finish the game with 18 points and six rebounds.

TCNJ pushed the lead as high as 14 in the first half, but were unable to pull away. Stanford's 19 points and seven rebounds in the opening period helped the Lions jump out to a 36-27 halftime lead.

With the Lions leading 54-45, the Knights used a 9-2 run, with John Decker scoring four of his game-high 27 points. Geneseo State pulled to within two points with seven and a half minutes remaining, but were unable to get any closer.

Senior Bobby Brackett (Lawrenceville, NJ / Lawrenceville) had 17 points and nine rebounds, falling one board shy of his second straight double-double to open the season. Freshman Ryan Jensen (Manasquan, NJ / Manasquan) finished seven rebounds (all in the first half) to contribute to the Lions victory.

TCNJ out-rebounded Geneseo State 47-31 in the contest.

The Lions will now take on the host, Penn State Harrisburg at 3:00 pm tomorrow, after they advanced to the final by winning their opening round game 76-72 over New Rochellle.