EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ football team played evenly throughout the first half with Rowan on Friday night at Lions Stadium, but the Profs used touchdowns on each side of halftime to turn a 14-14 tie into a 28-14 lead. Rowan went on to win the game, 35-21.
 
James Fara and Ifreke Andy scored those touchdowns for Rowan, with Fara's coming with 48 seconds left in the second quarter and Andy's coming with 13:33 left in the third quarter.
 
To that point, though, the Lions and Profs went blow-for-blow. After Rowan took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, the Lions replied later in the first quarter. On the drive following the Rowan score, TCNJ embarked on a 15-play, 78-yard drive that ate 8:38 off the clock. Stephen Begen went six yards on a quarterback draw to cap the scoring drive.
 
After Rowan took a 14-7 lead early in the second period, the Lions again wore down the Rowan defense with a methodical drive. This one went for 12 plays and 85 yards and took 6:56 off the clock. The two big plays on the drive came in succession. Begen found Max Hayford for 28 yards to the Rowan 45, and then on the very next play, he hit Matthew Macaulay for 26 more yards to the Rowan 19.
 
A personal foul on Rowan put the ball 1^st-and-10 at the Rowan 7, and Mark Pacini capped the drive with three straight carries. The third of those punched the ball into the end zone from three yards out. That tied the score at 14-14 with 2:13 to play.
 
Rowan got a big score and swing in momentum on the next drive. A 34-yard completion put the ball at the TCNJ 4, and Fara's score put Rowan ahead just before the intermission.
 
Rowan scored twice more in the third quarter to extend its lead to 35-14, but TCNJ found some life in the fourth quarter. After a pair of methodical scoring drives, the Lions went 72 yards in only three plays, taking just 46 seconds off the clock. Begen hit Nicholas Chambers for 16 yards on the first play of the drive to the TCNJ 44, and two straight completions to Macaulay finished the drive. A 24-yard pitch and catch from Begen to Macaulay made it 35-21.
 
That would be the last time TCNJ would see the ball, though. Rowan ran the last 9:26 off the clock, picking up several third down conversions to prolong their time-eating drive.
 
Begen was 11-for-18 for 166 yards and a touchdown and an interception. Pacini led the Lions with 65 yards rushing. Macaulay's four catches for 86 yards were both team highs.
 
On the defensive side, Tyler Ludwikowski finished with 11 tackles to lead TCNJ. Jared Lyles had nine stops, and Ryan McGuire had seven tackles.
 
TCNJ honored its seniors along with retiring assistant coach Rocky Hager following the contest. Hager concluded a college coaching career that lasted more than four decades with his last eight years coming at TCNJ. While at North Dakota State through the 1980s, Hager was part of four national championship teams, including two as head coach in 1988 and 1990.