CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The TCNJ men's basketball team took its first loss of the season on Tuesday night, conceding a hard-fought 72-62 defeat to DeSales in its road opener.
 
Nick Koch was terrific, pouring in a game-high 24 points and keeping the visitors competitive throughout, but the Lions (2-1) were unable to overcome a rough shooting night and their struggles to keep up with the Bulldogs on the glass. Koch finished 11-of-18 from the field, accounting for just under half of TCNJ's total field goals, and Jason Larranaga chipped in with 14 points for the blue and gold.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Much of the first half was a see-saw, with three ties and six lead changes across the first nine minutes. TCNJ had its last advantage at 12-10 on a bucket by Koch with 12:41 left in the first half, and neither side led by more than two points until the Bulldogs (2-0) took a four-point edge (16-12) on a pair of free throws just past the midway point
• DeSales, which is receiving votes in the national poll, began to pull away late in the period. Leading 27-24 after James Beckwith sank two free throws, the home side dropped in 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, and in the span of just over a minute DeSales had gone in front by a dozen (36-24)
• Koch's steal and layup stopped the bleeding, but the Bulldogs buried another trey to take a 39-26 lead into halftime
• Trailing by as much as 15 in the early portions of the second half, the Lions attempted to claw their way back in and got within nine (50-41) after consecutive triples by Larranaga. TCNJ had three chances to cut further into the deficit, but came up empty each time and watched DeSales go on an 8-0 run to extend the margin to 58-41 and effectively ice the game
• The Lions got the margin to single digits one more time on a slashing bucket by Koch to make it 71-62, and Matthew Okorie stole an errant inbounds pass but had his layup rim around and out with about 10 seconds to play

FOR THE FOES

• Mason Barnes led the way with 16 points for DeSales, going 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Elijah Eberly had 13 points and Christian Guldin 10 for the Bulldogs, who had eight players net at least five points
• DeSales shot 45.8 percent overall and 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc
• The Bulldogs outrebounded TCNJ by a 42-26 margin

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch was dominant, getting into the lane at will and consistently finishing in traffic. He wound up one point shy of his career high for points while tallying four assists and three steals
• Larranaga was 4-for-10 from 3-point range, giving him 110 for his career and moving him within 14 of the all-time top-10 at TCNJ
• Okorie had nine points and six rebounds and David Alexandre registered six points

NOTES

• Tuesday night was the first meeting between the programs since November of 2009
• The Lions shot 35.4 percent (23-of-65) and were just 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) on 3-pointers
• TCNJ was careful with the ball, committing only eight turnovers while forcing 17 on the other end

UP NEXT

• The Lions return home to host the Greg Grant Tip-Off Tourmament. TCNJ takes on St. Joseph's Brooklyn in the opener at 5 p.m. Friday, with Hunter set to meet Wells in the nightcap.