EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team went toe-to-toe and up and down the floor with one of Division III's most prolific offenses before coming up a few plays short in an 85-77 loss to Rowan inside Packer Hall.

Danny Bodine capped a sensational all-around night with a thunderous dunk to tie the thrilling shootout, 77-77, at the 3:02 mark of the second half, but the Profs came right back down the floor with the go-ahead basket and fended the Lions off to snap the hosts' 15-game regular-season home winning streak in the NJAC opener for both schools.

Bodine put his stamp all over this one, pairing a season-high 18 points with a career-high 11 rebounds and compiling five blocks, four assists, and three steals for good measure. The five rejections gave him 77 for his career, pulling into a tie with Mark Aziz '08 for sixth in program history.

After a series of early lead changes, Jacob Hopping gave the Lions (3-2, 0-1) a 19-18 lead with a tough finish in the lane at the midway point of the first half.

Anthony DiCaro followed with a deep 3-pointer on a feed from Jim Clemente, then leaked out for a fast-break bucket after Hopping corralled a steal and fed ahead of the Rowan defense. Hopping then got loose on a back-door cut and Clemente hit him in stride for an easy lay-in to cap a 9-0 run, and after a Rowan bucket, Bodine drilled a long-range 3 after Clemente snagged an offensive rebound and kicked out to the Lions' lanky center.
 
Rowan, however, gradually chiseled into the TCNJ lead and pulled back in front on a driving lay-up by D'Andre Vilmar with 35 seconds left in the first half. The Profs doubled the margin to four on a pair of free throws before Bodine closed the half with a lay-in on a long outlet pass by Naysean Burch to make it 40-38 at the break.
 
Bodine played a large role in stifling Rowan's electrifying pace, swatting three shots and coming up with three steals in the first half alone. The Profs were 14-of-41 (34.1 percent) in the first 20 minutes, including a meager 3-for-15 from behind the arc.
 
Jason Larranaga had a career high in rebounds before the halftime horn, bringing down 10 caroms to go with his seven first-half markers.
 
Rowan (4-0, 1-0), which came in third in the nation in scoring at 113.7 points per game, threatened to pull away midway through the second half, going ahead 59-52 on a bucket by Marko Pantovic. That mini-spurt came after a dust-up in the battle for a loose ball, resulting in offsetting technical fouls and a Rowan ejection at the 15:06 mark.
 
Undaunted, the Lions roared back and nosed back in front, 67-65, on Bodine's pull-up 3-pointer with 7:24 to play.
 
The margin reached four on a pair of DiCaro free throws, but Rowan answered with five quick ones to set off a see-saw of lead changes. Larranaga gave TCNJ a 73-72 lead with 5:24 to go on an assist from DiCaro, only for the Profs to rattle home a triple. Justin Carbone tied it again on a slithering drive into the lane, and Bodine did so for the last time on a rim-wrecking slam set up by DiCaro before the visitors went in front to stay.
 
Despite the elevated score line, both sides struggled to get much going on offense. TCNJ held the Profs to 33.7-percent shooting (28-of-83) and a 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) effort from 3-point range, but could only manage 8 makes on 39 attempts from distance at its end.
 
Carbone finished with 17 points for the Lions, while Larranaga coupled 11 points with 13 boards for his first career double-double. DiCaro had 11 points and four assists, and Clemente dotted the box score with nine rebounds, six assists, and five points before fouling out late. Hopping had eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Arian Azemi paced five Profs in double figures with 15 points.
 
The men's basketball team heads to Rutgers-Camden for an NJAC contest next Wednesday.