MAHWAH, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team continued its recent surge with a comprehensive performance on Saturday, executing a near-flawless game plan en route to a 79-65 victory at Ramapo.
Anthony DiCaro compiled 14 points, six rebounds, and seven assists in a terrific all-around floor game for the Lions (5-11, 4-5), who extended their winning streak to three with their most complete effort of the campaign. TCNJ shot 53.4 percent from the field (31-for-58) and piled up 20 assists to only seven turnovers, easily a season low.
Matthew Solomon netted a career 13 points,
Danny Bodine added a dozen to go with four blocks, and
Jason Larranaga chipped in 10.
It took much of the first half for the visitors to separate, but once they did, they never looked back. Leading 20-18 at the 6:35 mark, DiCaro's jumper ignited an 11-3 spurt that put the Lions in front by double digits for the first time. Rookie
Nick Koch was a huge factor in that key stretch, knocking down a pair of jumpers around a 3-pointer by Larranaga before sinking two free throws to make it 31-21 with 2:58 to go in the half. A jumper by Bodine preceded a buzzer-beating tip-in from Solomon, which sent TCNJ to the locker room with a 39-27 advantage.
Ramapo (7-9, 3-6) scored the first four points of the second half and still trailed by eight (41-33) with 17:55 to go, but
Pat Higgins' 3-pointer opened a stretch of 12 consecutive points in a little over two minutes of game time that put the game out of reach. DiCaro drained a triple of his own before buckets by Bodine, Larragana, and
Jim Clemente put the Roadrunners in a 53-33 hole. Ramapo never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
The Roadrunners got a trio of huge performances from Peter Gorman (21 points, 5 assists), Shane Rooney (19 points, 6 rebounds), and Jordan Myers (15 points, 10 rebounds), but the Lions' depth proved too much. Ten different players got on the scoresheet for TCNJ, with seven scoring between six and 14 points. DiCaro's distributing was a major factor, the senior dishing out seven assists to just one turnover.
Solomon was 6-for-7 from the field and added five rebounds in another efficient effort, while Larranaga was 4-for-7 and pulled down five rebounds. The Lions commanded a 42-24 advantage in paint points for the day.
Koch finished with nine points, Higgins had eight, and Clemente made all three of his shots for six points alongside three rebounds and three assists. TCNJ tallied 32 points from its bench, while Ramapo had none.
The Lions put their winning streak on the line when they welcome Rutgers-Camden to Packer Hall on Wednesday night.
