GALLOWAY, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team endured a slow start at conference-leading Stockton on Wednesday night, and the Lions could never quite recover in a 75-55 defeat to the Ospreys. Naysean Burch scored a team-high 12 points. Danny Bodine just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
The slow start at the offensive end dug the Lions a double-digit hole in the opening minutes of play. A jumper by Bodine at 17:14 was TCNJ's only field goal until Jim Clemente hit a layup with 10:16 to play in the first half. With three free throws in between, Clemente's bucket cut the Stockton lead to 14-7 after it was 14-2.
 
Bodine's free throw at 7:07 made it a 17-14 Stockton lead, and Jason Larranaga later was fouled on a three-point attempt. He sank all three freebies to keep TCNJ within two possessions at 25-20 with 4:20 to play in the half.
 
Anthony DiCaro hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 28-22 with 3:31 left in the half, but Stockton went on a 12-4 over the remainder of the first period to head into the break with a 40-26 advantage. That 14-point lead was Stockton's largest to that point.
 
TCNJ shot just 28 percent from the floor and 18.2 percent (2-for-11) from three-point range in the first half. The Lions' 10-for-13 mark at the free-throw line kept them in the game into the second half.
 
Stockton scored the first five points of the second half to push its lead to 19 points, and the lead hovered in that range for the rest of the night. The Lions did cut the lead to 14 points soon after that initial Stockton surge when Burch hit a three and Larranaga hit a layup to make it 47-33 with 16:27 left.
 
TCNJ turned the ball over 19 times, and that turned into 28 Stockton points. TCNJ converted eight Osprey turnovers into seven points.
 
Stockton retained its hold on first place in the NJAC with the win, moving to 4-0 in the league.
 
TCNJ will look to get back in the win column against New Jersey City at home on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. following the women's game.