EWING, N.J. – All five starters scored in double figures as the TCNJ men's basketball team rode a well-balanced effort to a resounding 86-68 victory over Ursinus on Saturday night.
 
It was a master class of efficiency for the starting five, which combined for 76 points and shot just shy of 60 percent from the floor (28-of-47). Nick Koch led the way with 18 points, while Jason Larranaga tallied 17 on the strength of five 3-pointers. Matthew Okorie notched a career-high 16, James Beckwith chipped in 12, and Matthew Solomon put up another impressive all-around performance with 13 points, eight rebounds, and six assists as TCNJ (2-0) picked up a second consecutive double-digit win inside Packer Hall to start the season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ursinus scored the game's first four points in quick succession, but after a slow start it was all TCNJ. The Lions ripped off a sizzling 13-0 run highlighted by three 3-pointers from Larranaga and a thunderous dunk from Solomon off a feed by Okorie
• After the Bears stopped the bleeding with a desperation heave from about 28 feet, the hosts opened up their first double-digit lead on a hesitation drive and reverse layup by Koch to make it 17-7 at the 13:46 mark
• Following a burst by Ursinus to trim the TCNJ lead to four (19-15), the Lions took control around the midway point of the half as David Alexandre sank a floater and came up with a steal before feeding ahead to Okorie for a fast-break dunk. Solomon followed with a triple of his own to extend the run to 7-0 and the advantage to 26-15 with 8:40 left in the frame
• Larranaga and Anthony Milligan connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 32-17, and Beckwith sank a pair of free throws before chasing down his own miss from long range and deftly flipping up a reverse layup in one motion to open up the largest lead of the half at 36-20 with 4:30 on the timer
• Ursinus pulled within 12 at the break (38-26) and 11 early in the second half (42-31) before TCNJ went on another extended spurt, this time rolling up eight consecutive markers to push its lead to 50-31 with 16:27 to go
• The margin fluctuated between 11 and 19 points for almost the entirety of the second half. The Bears briefly got within 57-46, but Larranaga and Milligan connected on back-to-back triples to push the spread right back out to 17 (63-46) at the 11:19 mark.
• TCNJ twice led by 21 points before settling on an 18-point final margin

FOR THE FOES

• Trevor Wall scored a game-high 21 points and Mohamed Toure pitched in 12 of his own
• TCNJ held the high-powered Bears, who scored 89 in their opener, to just 32.3 percent from the field (10-of-31) and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from long range in the first half

STANDOUT LIONS

• Following his opening night triple-double (16P/11R/11A), Solomon was on triple-double watch again with seven points, five rebounds, and five assists in the first half
• Koch played a strong all-around game with five rebounds and four assists to go with his 18 points
• Larranaga went 5-for-7 from 3 and 6-of-8 overall in his highest scoring game since an NJAC Tournament win over Ramapo in February of 2022
• Okorie has scored in double figures in both games, this time making 6-of-11 from the floor and all four of his free throws
• Solomon (6-for-7) made all but one shot, while Beckwith netted his dozen on just five attempts (3-for-5), sinking all six of his free throws and adding seven rebounds

NOTES

• TCNJ shot 50.0 percent for the game (31-for-62), including 59.3 percent after halftime (16-for-27)
• TCNJ dominated the glass (40-27) and the paint (40-24) against the undersized Bears
• The Lions dished out 15 assists while committing only nine turnovers
• Khalid Bakare grabbed three rebounds in his collegiate debut, while Jonathan Okocha and Jaydis McFadden also saw their first career action
• Saturday's game continued a trend of lopsided affairs between the teams. TCNJ won by 16 in Packer Hall in 2021, and Ursinus routed the Lions by 27 last year in Collegeville

UP NEXT

• The Lions hit the road for the first time on Tuesday night, when they head to the Lehigh Valley for a matchup with a DeSales squad that received votes in the D3hoops.com preseason poll