EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team was locked and loaded from the opening tip of Wednesday's home date with Rutgers-Camden, putting together a prolific first half and powering their way to an 81-62 NJAC rout.

Pat Higgins poured in 19 points, Anthony DiCaro had 13, and Jim Clemente fell just shy of a double-double as TCNJ stretched its winning streak to four with a second consecutive double-digit triumph.

With the win, the Lions (6-11, 5-5) climbed back to .500 in league play and now find themselves just a game back of Kean for fourth in the NJAC standings.

The Lions were humming from the jump, shooting 62 percent from the field in a highlight-filled first half that ended with the hosts in front, 45-30. Six different players recorded at least two field goals in the half, and all but one made more than half of their attempts.

TCNJ drilled four 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of game time, and the contest was only a little more than four minutes old when Higgins capped a hot start with a three-point play to extend the lead into double figures at 15-5.

The Lions continually turned defense into offense, headlined by a play in which Clemente stole a pass and fed ahead to Jason Larranaga, who took a few dribbles before delivering a perfect bounce pass to Naysean Burch for a fast-break bucket and a 33-22 lead. Back-to-back treys by Larranaga and Burch, sandwiched around one by the Scarlet Raptors, staked the Lions to a 39-27 advantage, and Matthew Solomon's put-back just before the horn moved the margin out to 15 at the break.

DiCaro (10) and Higgins (8) starred in the back-court in the opening period, with Larranaga and Burch chipping in seven points apiece to account for two-thirds of the home side's 21 bench points. Larranaga and Burch each went 3-for-4 with a 3-pointer in the frame, the latter matching his season high in scoring.

Thanks to their hot shooting, the Lions doubled up Camden on the glass, 18-9, in the first 20 minutes and were ruthless in transition, converting only six Scarlet Raptor turnovers into 13 points on the other end.

The efficiency never wavered after halftime, with Higgins and DiCaro knocking down 3-pointers to move the lead beyond 20 at 51-30 less than two minutes into the second stanza. Trevor Covey and Higgins added additional triples to make it a 7-for-9 start to the period for TCNJ, which moved ahead by 27 (63-36) on Higgins' pull-up pop with 13:39 remaining.

The Lions led by as many as 28 points before coasting to a 19-point final margin. They finished at 52.7 percent from the floor for the night (29-of-55).

Cameron Downs led the Scarlet Raptors with 17 points.

Higgins was 6-for-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from long range, landing one point shy of his season high.

DiCaro finished with five rebounds and four assists to go with his 13 points, and Clemente coupled 12 points with eight rebounds, helping the hosts to a massive 45-22 advantage on the boards. Danny Bodine collected seven caroms and Solomon added five.

Burch finished with a season-high nine points.

Shaun Johnson scored his first four points of the season in the closing minutes, and Jose Estevez made a free throw for his first point of the year.

TCNJ looks to keep the momentum going when NJCU comes to town for a Saturday showdown.