MONTCLAIR, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team wound up on the short end of a see-saw first half and was unable to make up the necessary ground as host Montclair State remained unbeaten with an 83-70 victory in the final NJAC contest of 2022.

Danny Bodine led four in double figures with 16 points for the Lions (2-6, 1-4), who went shot for shot with the unblemished Red Hawks before the hosts began to pull away late in the first half.

Anthony DiCaro knocked down a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game, setting off an entertaining opening period that featured three ties and seven lead changes. TCNJ's last one came on a lay-up by Jim Clemente to make it 15-14 at the 12:53 mark, but Montclair State (8-0, 4-0) scored off an offensive rebound on the next trip and the Lions never led again.

Still, TCNJ stayed right with the Red Hawks, knotting the contest at 21 on a triple by DiCaro with 5:34 left in the period. Montclair State, however, used a 9-2 run to seize an 11-point advantage (40-29) and pulled into the break with a 43-33 upper hand.

The Lions got it to single digits on a number of occasions in the second half, the last on a three-point play by Bodine to trim Montclair State's advantage to 66-57 with 5:54 remaining. But Steven Breeman knocked down 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push the margin back out to 15 and TCNJ could get no closer than 11.

Breeman led all scorers with 21 points for the Red Hawks, who are receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll. He was 6-for-8 from 3-point range to help the red and white go 16-for-38 (42.1 percent) from downtown. Mike Jackson (16) and Keyon Pryce (11) also hit double figures.

Bodine finished 6-for-9 from the floor, adding six rebounds and a pair of blocks. Pat Higgins made 6-of-7 at the foul line to land on 13 points, and Clemente netted a season-high 10.

Matthew Solomon was terrific in his first career start, scoring 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting and pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.

DiCaro produced nine points and seven assists, while Naysean Burch scored four points and swiped three steals to account for nearly half of the Red Hawks' seven turnovers.

TCNJ shot 50.0 percent form the field (25 of 50) and outscored the Red Hawks, 34-24, in the paint, but was unable to counter Montclair State's huge advantage from the 3-point line. The Lions made just five (out of 13 attempts), less than half of their per-game average.

TCNJ begins a series of holiday tournaments with a trip to Charlotte for the Jay Bilas Classic, where the Lions will take on Lynchburg on December 20 and No. 1 Christopher Newport the following day.