EWING, N.J. – Fifty minutes. Two overtimes. Ten ties and sixteen lead changes. A last shot from close range. The TCNJ men's basketball team survived it all.
Anthony DiCaro poured in a career-high 37 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 2:38 to play in double-overtime, and the Lions (5-2, 2-1) fended off a final possession for visiting Montclair State to emerge from an NJAC epic with an 88-87 triumph.
After DiCaro dropped in the last two of his 37 markers, the Red Hawks split a pair at the line with 2:26 to play. Neither side scored from there. After several empty trips and four missed free throws in the final minute, Montclair State had the ball and a chance to win. Irving Callender IV drove to his left and rose up for a 10-foot jumper in the lane.
Danny Bodine provided a strong challenge, and the jumper clanged off the back rim. Callender nearly grabbed the board, but the Lions were able to converge and knock the ball away to set off a frenzied celebration at midcourt.
DiCaro was unconscious throughout, making 13 of his 18 attempts from the field, getting into the lane at will, and dazzling an energetic crowd with his relentless array of ball-handling wizardry. The Lions needed every bit of it.
After cultivating a 21-8 lead in the first half as Montclair State (4-3, 1-2) misfired on 16 of its first 17 shots, TCNJ watched the visitors turn an 11-point deficit at the 6:35 mark of the first half into a 1-point margin (35-34) at the break.
The two evenly-matched sides went on the see-saw from there. Montclair State went ahead by three, 56-53, with about nine minutes to play, only for DiCaro to bookend an 8-0 spurt with a pair of lay-ins. The Red Hawks seized a 64-63 lead on Callender's bucket with 4:53 to play, but
Justin Carbone buried a contested 3-pointer and DiCaro set up
Jim Clemente for a deuce inside to make it 68-64 with 3:34 left.
Montclair State ran off the next six points to nose ahead, 70-68, with exactly 2:00 on the clock, but DiCaro decided to launch from about 30-feet and knocked it down to regain the upper hand. The junior came through again with a minute to play, splashing a trademark step-back 3 to make it 75-73, and he answered a pair of Red Hawk freebies with a twisting drive into the lane and a lefty lay-in with 25 seconds to go. Devin Cooper got loose on a blow-by to tie it, setting the stage for DiCaro, who somewhat surprisingly misfired on a 35-footer at the buzzer as the game went into overtime.
The first extra session went down to the final seconds again. With 2.2 seconds left and an inbounds pass on the left side,
Jason Larranaga launched a football pass downcourt for Clemente, who had a good look blocked at the rim.
Larranaga scored the first points of the second overtime on a put-back, and DiCaro's free throws – plus the last defensive stand – proved to be just enough.
DiCaro's 37 points came in a game-high 47 minutes. He also grabbed six rebounds and added five assists to his league-leading tally.
Trevor Covey provided a career-high 12 points and five rebounds for TCNJ, while Larranaga just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds and Carbone matched him with 10 points. Clemente paired eight points with a career-high 15 rebounds, and Bodine logged seven points, six rebounds, and three blocks, including a critical rejection in double overtime.
TCNJ held the Red Hawks, who came in averaging 94.0 points per game, to just 34.5-percent shooting (29-for-84) and an 8-for-38 mark (21.1 percent) from distance. The Lions shot 46.3 percent (31-for-67) and made 10 triples, but committed 23 turnovers to just 10 for Montclair State, which turned TCNJ's miscues into 24 points.
The Lions continue with NJAC play at Stockton on Wednesday.
