EWING, N.J. – Huge contributions from a trio of freshmen was enough to lift the TCNJ men's basketball team to a come-from-behind 76-70 victory over New Jersey City in a nip-and-tuck NJAC clash on Saturday.
 
Khalid Bakare came up with by far the biggest game of his young career, pairing season highs of 14 points and eight rebounds and teaming with fellow first-years David Alexandre and Chris Santner to help the Lions (7-1, 3-0) erase a seven-point deficit with under nine minutes to play and run their winning streak to five games. Now a still-perfect 6-0 inside Packer Hall, TCNJ is off to its first 3-0 league start in a full season in five years.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After two scoreless minutes, Jason Larranaga and James Beckwith connected on consecutive 3-pointers and a bucket by Nick Koch made it 8-2 Lions early
• NJCU countered with eight straight points before Beckwith drilled another long-range triple to put TCNJ on top at 11-10
• Much of the first half continued in a similarly tightly-contested fashion, with the Lions going in front for the remainder of the half (24-22) on a pair of free throws by Jack Vreeswyk with 7:07 left in the half
• The Lions still led by just two (32-30) at the 3-minute mark of the period, when Alexandre knocked down a triple to make it 35-30. Alexandre then grabbed a rebound and found a streaking Santner for a fast-break basket plus the foul, and the rookie center's three-point play gave the home side a 38-31 lead with a minute to go in the half
• The Gothic Knights came out red-hot in the second half, using an 8-2 run to level the score at 40-up and grabbing the lead at 43-42 on Ryan Savoy's 3-pointer, their first of the day
• The teams wrestled for control for much of the game's remainder, and NJCU threw one of the first punches with an 8-0 burst to take a 61-54 lead on a three-point play with 10:04 to go
• The score stayed there for another minute and change until the Lions made their move, scoring five straight to get back within two at 61-59
• The visitors still maintained a four-point edge (65-61) with just over five minutes to go when Larranaga swished a corner 3, ending a streak of 14 consecutive missed 3-pointers for TCNJ. A minute later, Bakare corralled a loose rebound and put it back up plus the foul, the rookie's three-point play giving the Lions the lead for goof at 67-65 with 4:14 remaining
• NJCU got within one on a free throw, but Bakare made two more free throws after getting fouled while grabbing a defensive rebound, and Alexandre followed with an NBA-range swish from the left wing to make it 72-66 with 3:20 left
• The Gothic Knights got as close as four on two occasions before the final buzzer, but TCNJ's defense stood tall and two free throws apiece from Beckwith and Larranaga in the closing seconds iced it

FOR THE FOES

• Avante Gilbert topped four in double figures with 14 for NJCU, which started the second half 13-of-18 from the floor before going cold and ending up at 37.7 percent (23-for-61)
• NJCU made just three 3-pointers on 12 attempts

STANDOUT LIONS

• Khalid Bakare and Santner were called into action and answered with aplomb; Bakare had five points and four rebounds in the first frame, while Santner had four points and two boards, and both notched an assist
• Bakare finished 5-of-7 overall and 4-for-5 at the line in 25 minutes, more than twice his previous high. He had four points and eight rebounds total in his six appearances coming into the day
• Alexandre continued his tremendous debut campaign with season highs in points (12) and rebounds (9) to go with four assists
• Larranaga and Koch each scored 11, while Beckwith and Vreeswyk had eight
• Matthew Solomon coupled seven points with eight rebounds

NOTES

• The Lions have won two straight in the series
• TCNJ was just 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) from distance but NJCU's lack of attempts still gave the Lions a healthy advantage beyond the arc
• The Lions had a 49-39 advantage on the glass

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Kean on Wednesday night