EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team gave Montclair State a 40-minute fight but came up a few plays short as the visitors staved off the Lions' many advances for a 69-64 victory on Saturday inside Packer Hall.

The Lions erased every bit of a 10-point second-half deficit but were never able to get over the hump against a strong Red Hawks squad that came in with only two league losses. The victory was the first by the visitor in the series in the last 10 meetings.

The Lions (7-13, 6-7) started inauspiciously, dropping into a quick 9-2 hole before a broken play changed their fortunes. With the shot clock winding down and already having picked up his dribble, Danny Bodine launched a 3-pointer from the right wing that dropped through the cup as the horn expired. That fortuitous break paved the way for an 8-0 spurt that also included a thunderous dunk by Bodine on a back-door feed from Anthony DiCaro, and TCNJ went back in front on an outlet pass from DiCaro to Pat Higgins.

The lead changed hands five times from there, with the hosts leading by as much as three (20-17) after a triple by Nick Koch and a lay-up inside by Matthew Solomon at the 8:24 mark.

The trigger-happy Red Hawks (17-3, 11-2) countered with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an 11-0 run, finally ended by a 3-pointer from Jason Larranaga that made it 28-23 with 4:53 to go. Keyon Pryce came right back with a deep ball of his own, and another from Steven Breeman lifted the red and white to a 37-29 lead at the break.

The deficit quickly grew to ten as Montclair State netted the first points after halftime, but a Higgins-fueled spree served notice that the Lions weren't going away. The sophomore drove the lane for and-one buckets on consecutive trips, splitting the free throws, and knocked down a floater before Bodine's put-back polished off a 9-0 stretch and got the home side within 39-38.

TCNJ pulled even at 43-apiece on a 3-pointer by DiCaro at the 15:30 mark, but Montclair State answered with five quick points and eventually took a pair of seven-point leads, the last at 56-49.

Back came the Lions, getting right back to within two (56-54) on a beautiful back-door feed from Larranaga to Higgins with 5:08 to go. The Red Hawks scored the next four points to extend to a six-point lead, but DiCaro rescued TCNJ again with a drive that drew two defenders before dumping a pass off to a wide-open Solomon for an uncontested lay-in.

The Lions' frontcourt continued to impose its will, Jim Clemente sealing his defender for an easy bucket and Bodine driving past Breeman for a two-handed flush to slice the Red Hawk lead to 62-60 with 1:22 to play.

Out of a timeout, Montclair State got a drive-and-kick 3-pointer from Kieran Flanagan – just the third trey for either team after intermission – to go up 65-60, and got a stop on the other end as Bodine's spinning shot was off the mark. Breeman was fouled on the other end and sunk both free throws, effectively icing the contest.

Breeman led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, with Pryce and Mike Jackson tallying 13 apiece.

Higgins finished with a team-leading 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, adding five rebounds to his ledger. Clemente (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Bodine (11 points, 6 rebounds) combined for 22 points and 14 rebounds inside, and DiCaro stuffed the stat sheet with seven assists and five boards.

TCNJ outrebounded MSU by a 41-34 count and snagged 15 on the offensive end, leading to 10 second-chance points. The Lions owned the paint to the tune of a 42-24 scoring edge, but struggled to a 5-for-26 effort from long range.

Bodine was a terror on the inside, racking up three blocked shots in the first half and four for the afternoon. One led directly to a fast break going the other way, with Higgins snagging the long carom and taking it coast-to-coast for a layup.

The Lions hit the road next Wednesday to take on Kean in a critical clash for NJAC playoff positioning.