WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The TCNJ men's basketball team lost to Wilkes, 61-55, in a tight non-conference affair on Monday night. Danny Bodine paced the Lions with a team-high 18 points. He added six rebounds, three blocks and two steals to also lead TCNJ in those categories.
 
Wilkes held TCNJ without a point for 0:00 before Jacob Hopping made a pair of free throws with 27 seconds remaining to cut the Wilkes lead to 58-55. After a TCNJ timeout, Wilkes' Cayden Merrifield missed the front end of a one-and-one to keep the score at one possession.
 
TCNJ had the ball and time, but Naysean Burch's turnaround jumper in the lane missed. Trent Fisher gathered the rebound for Wilkes, and two subsequent free throws pushed the Wilkes lead to 60-55.
 
TCNJ last led with 13:53 remaining in the second half when Burch nailed a three pointer to give TCNJ a 36-35 advantage. Burch finished with 11 points and a team-leading four assists.
 
Though TCNJ wouldn't lead after that point, the Lions stayed close for the rest of the game. Jason Larranaga hit a three to make it 48-47 Wilkes with 5:48 left, and Bodine cut a five-point lead down to one with a pair of layups a couple of minutes later. The second of those made it 54-53 Wilkes with 3:20 to play.
 
After that bucket, though, the Lions fell into a drought. Wilkes scored twice in the next 2:53 to expand its lead to 58-53 while the Lions went 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-2 from the stripe. Despite the offensive struggles, TCNJ's strong defense kept the game within reach until Hopping's free throws with 27 seconds remaining. Hopping finished with nine points and four rebounds.
 
Wilkes carried a six-point lead into halftime after Jackson Shafer's three pointer with 36 seconds remaining gave Wilkes a 26-20 lead.
 
TCNJ returns to action on Wednesday at Packer Hall for Tropical Night when it hosts Ramapo at 8 p.m.