JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half of its game at New Jersey City on Monday night, but the Lions had a chance to tie or win the game on their final possession after a furious second-half comeback. Instead, NJCU escaped with a 63-61 win.
Anthony DiCaro led all scorers with 16 points.
TCNJ trailed by no more than three points for all but 20 seconds of the final nine minutes of the game, but the Lions were never able to take the lead.
Jim Clemente's layup at 4:17 pulled TCNJ to a 60-59 deficit, and that started a scoreless streak for both teams that lasted for nearly four full minutes of game time.
Derryen White broke the scoreless stretch with a pair of free throws for NJCU with 20 seconds left to make it 62-59, but DiCaro made two of his own from the stripe with 11.8 seconds left to cut the lead back to a single point.
After NJCU's Kayton Darley made just the first of his two free throws with 9.9 seconds left, TCNJ had the ball with a chance to send the game to overtime, or win it outright. DiCaro dribbled up the right side and cut towards the free throw line as the seconds ticked down. He stopped near the left elbow and attempted a leaning jumper that would tie the score, but his shot was blocked by Denzel Banks as time expired. NJCU escaped with the two-point win, 63-61.
NJCU led, 34-17, with 6:40 to play in the first half and carried a 38-27 lead into the intermission. The Lions stormed back in the first seven minutes of the second half to cut the NJCU lead to 46-44. DiCaro and
Jason Larranaga each made three pointers in that stretch, and Clemente hit two layups in that time, as well.
Clemente had 11 points and seven rebounds. Larranaga scored eight points and added five boards.
NJCU had a 53-46 lead with 10:38 left to play, but
Justin Carbone and
Naysean Burch hit back-to-back threes to make it 53-52. Burch's triple pulled the Lions into its one-possession deficit for all but one possession in the final nine minutes of action.
Danny Bodine chipped in with a strong night across the board. He had nine points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Lions return to action on Wednesday night at home against Stockton at 8 p.m.
