NEWARK, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team returned to the floor Wednesday for its first game since Dec. 11, and Rutgers-Newark greeted the Lions with a 63-48 defeat in their return to action. Danny Bodine finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, falling just a rebound shy of his second double-double of the season. Jason Larranaga had nine points.
 
The inevitable rust on the Lions' game showed up in the first half, as TCNJ shot just 27.6 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including just 3-for-14 from three-point range.
 
Bodine hit one of those three pointers to make it 8-6 Newark just four minutes into play, but Rutgers-Newark followed with a 16-3 run over the next six minutes to expand its lead to 24-9 on a Jamir Patterson driving layup with 10:24 left. Justin Carbone's three pointer was the lone TCNJ bucket in that stretch.
 
Anthony DiCaro ended the 16-3 run with a pair of scores on consecutive possessions to drop the deficit back to 11 points with 9:25 left in the half, but the lead reached 19 points on a Patterson free throw with 4:01 left. DiCaro stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds and six assists.
 
Jacob Hopping hit a shot, and Carbone made a couple of free throws to trim the deficit to 38-23 at the halftime intermission. Hopping finished with four points and five rebounds, and Carbone had five points.
 
The 15-point lead got as big as 21 in the second half for Rutgers-Newark, coming on a Levi Holton jumper to make it 53-32 with 10:29 to play. Rutgers-Newark outscored TCNJ, 15-3, off of turnovers, and 33-22 on points in the paint.
 
TCNJ will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday against William Paterson. Tipoff at Packer Hall is scheduled for 3 p.m.