EWING, N.J. – Jason Larranaga posted a season-high 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting from three-point range to help lift the TCNJ men's basketball team past Ramapo, 81-74, in the NJAC Men's Basketball Tournament first round on Saturday afternoon in Packer Hall. Larranaga led four Lions in double figures.
Anthony DiCaro (15),
Danny Bodine (12) and
Naysean Burch (10) all hit double digits in points.
The teams played it close in the first half as TCNJ carried a 37-36 lead into the intermission. The Lions led by as many as seven in the half, but a large portion of play stuck within a single possession.
The game-changing sequence came right after the intermission. TCNJ scored the first 12 points of the second half, turning that 37-36 lead into a 49-36 lead just four minutes into the half. The three-point shot powered that 12-0 run with Larranaga, DiCaro and Burch all making threes. Bodine scored the other three points on a layup and a foul shot.
The Lions shot 37.1 percent (13-for-35) from beyond the arc in the game, a big improvement from their 29.8 percent mark during the regular season. The Lions also entered the postseason as the second-best rebounding team in the league, and they beat their average of 41.5 by outrebounding the Roadrunners, 43-34. The Lions also shot 76.2 percent (16-for-21) from the free-throw line, nearly 10 percent better than their regular season mark.
Ramapo didn't let its season end quietly, though. A Bodine dunk with 3:50 to play had TCNJ ahead, 75-56, in what looked to be an exclamation point to a laugher, but Ramapo fought back with nine straight points to make it 75-65 with 1:30 left. The Lions kept pace in the final 90 seconds at the free throw line, making six of their final eight at the stripe to dampen the Ramapo push.
The Roadrunners had it at 78-72 with 33 seconds left and 79-74 with 18 seconds left, but DiCaro sank a pair of free throws soon after to seal the deal.
TCNJ moves into the NJAC quarterfinals on Tuesday, where it will travel to top-seeded Stockton at 7 p.m. The teams split their regular season meetings with both home teams claiming double-digit victories.
