LEXINGTON, Va. – Nick Koch's spectacular performance was not quite enough to prevent another tight loss for the TCNJ men's basketball team.

The first-year phenom went off for a season-high 25 points – 19 of them in a dazzling first-half display – to help the Lions climb out of a huge hole, but the late stages let them down again as Vassar held on for an 81-77 victory on Friday afternoon in the consolation game of the Washington and Lee Holiday Tournament. Koch finished 8-of-11 from the field and 8-of-10 at the foul line to outdo his scoring output for the entire season in the stroke of one sizzling afternoon.

The rookie's exploits – which earned him a spot on the All-Tournament Team – were nearly enough to erase a nightmare start that saw the Brewers (6-3) grab a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes. Koch's first points came on a hook shot in the lane, and two free throws and a floater got TCNJ within 23-18 at the 10:04 mark.

Vassar went on a 10-0 run over the next nearly five minutes until Danny Bodine stopped the bleeding with a hook shot which kick-started a 23-7 spurt to end the first half. The Lions made four 3-pointers during that stretch, including back-to-back triples by Jason Larranaga and Trevor Covery to trim the Brewer advantage to 35-28.

Koch converted a three-point play and another driving layup to make it 39-36, and the freshman's 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in the period pushed the Lions into the break down by just two (43-41).

TCNJ took its first lead of the game on Pat Higgins' layup with 15:37 to play, and went up by as many as five points (59-54) after a trey from Anthony DiCaro and a turnaround jumper by Koch with 11:22 to go. Unfortunately, the Lions went scoreless for more than five minutes, allowing Vassar to rattle off a 10-0 run and nose in front for good.

Higgins banked in a soft floater and Jim Clemente knocked down both ends of a one-and-one to get within 67-65 at the 3:51 mark, but the Brewers scored the next nine points to take control. DiCaro hit a couple deep triples in the final minute to help TCNJ get within 80-75, but Bodine's put-back with 2.3 seconds left was too late to matter.

Koch's marksmanship helped the Lions shoot 15-for-25 (60.0 percent) from the floor in the first half. Vassar was even better at 61.5 percent (16-of-26) and finished at 50.9 percent (27-for-53).

DiCaro scored 12 points on four 3-pointers, Larranaga (3-for-6 from 3) added 11, and Higgins chipped in 10. Matthew Okorie paced TCNJ with six rebounds while DiCaro and Clemente grabbed five each.

TCNJ resumes NJAC play on January 4 against No. 23 Stockton.