EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team gutted out a hard-fought victory over Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday, pulling out a 59-56 decision on the strength of
Anthony DiCaro's play-making and several huge defensive stops in a tight finish.
DiCaro scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and set up the go-ahead basket by
Jim Clemente with 1:14 to play to help the Lions (4-11, 2-5) collect a second consecutive triumph for their first winning streak of the season.
The senior point guard was exceptional in crunch time for TCNJ, which dug out of a double-digit second-half hole. DiCaro had the ball in his hands in the most high-leverage moments and delivered every time, including using a crossover to get free in the lane and dumping a pass off to Clemente for a contested finish at the rim and a 57-56 lead with 1:14 to go.
After a stop at the other end, DiCaro misfired on a step-back 3-pointer, but
Jason Larranaga came down with a massive offensive rebound. TCNJ capitalized on the second opportunity, using the same DiCaro-to-Clemente connection a second time as DiCaro drew defenders in the lane and lofted a pass to his senior counterpart for a banked lay-in with 16.3 seconds remaining.
Rutgers-Newark had three chances at a tying 3-pointer on the final possessions but came up empty each time as the Lions left the Packer Hall floor with a massive result against one of the five teams they were tied with for fifth in the NJAC coming into the night.
TCNJ led 10-2 just over five minutes in and looked set to run away, but the Scarlet Raiders (4-11, 2-6) put the clamps on defensively, limiting the hosts to just nine points over the final 14:36 of the first half. Tony Godwin's 3-pointer gave Newark a 27-19 edge at the break, and a bucket by Tony Miles right out of intermission pushed the TCNJ deficit into double digits.
The Lions, however, made plenty of adjustments at halftime, and the results were more than evident. TCNJ scored on seven of its first eight possessions of the second stanza, which included 11 points from DiCaro – seven of them on three consecutive trips, the last bucket giving the Lions a 37-35 lead with 14:34 to play.
The Scarlet Raiders responded with eight straight points and still led by five (49-44) as the clock ticked under seven minutes. That's when DiCaro took over again, nailing a 3-pointer from just in front of the midcourt logo.
The teams were tied four times after that, including at 52-52 on a corner triple from
Pat Higgins and 54-54 on
Olare Oladipo's strong bucket inside with 4:01 remaining. Rutgers-Newark took its final lead on two free throws by Godwin with 2:13 to go, but turned it over on its next possession to set up Clemente's go-ahead basket and the tight finish.
TCNJ was a smoldering 16-for-23 from the field after half, including 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. It was a needed shift after a ragged first half that featured 10 TCNJ turnovers in the first 12 minutes.
DiCaro, for his part, was 7-for-10 overall and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, adding six assists and a pair of steals.
Higgins had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting,
Nick Koch added eight points, and Clemente recorded seven points and four rebounds.
Danny Bodine made all three of his shots for six points and
Matthew Solomon had four points and three rebounds, plus a massive weak-side block that prevented Rutgers-Newark from taking a four-point lead around the 6-minute mark. Solomon scored himself on the other end, making it a critical four-point swing.
Godwin paced Rutgers-Newark with 17 points and Levi Holton pitched in with 11.
The men's basketball team heads to Ramapo on Saturday in search of a third straight win.