EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team controlled large stretches of play against a perennial NJAC contender on Saturday, but fell victim to a late explosion as visiting Montclair State used a red-hot closing stretch to snatch an 85-74 victory.
 
Nick Koch turned in a tremendous performance with 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists for the Lions (7-3, 3-2), who suffered their first home loss of the season despite leading for more than 80 percent of the contest. Montclair State (6-2, 4-1) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half before separating for good with a 19-2 run in the closing minutes, making seven consecutive shots.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Montclair State scored the first five points, but after an early series of tug-of-war the Lions began to impose their will
• TCNJ got 3-pointers from Jason Larranaga and James Beckwith during a 10-0 run that put the home side ahead, 19-10, at the 13:25 mark
• The Lions kept the Red Hawks at arm's length for the remainder of the half, leading by between four and 11 points thanks to a barrage of NBA-range treys from Larranaga and Beckwith and a bevy of bully-ball drives from Koch, who got into the lane at will en route to a 12-point first period
• TCNJ took a 44-33 lead on Matthew Okorie's tip-in, but Samar Abdullah nailed a corner 3 in the closing seconds to get the visitors within eight at the break
• Still, the Lions were comfortably in front for most of the second half. They took their larges lead of the day (51-39) when Koch set up back-to-back buckets by Okorie and Matthew Solomon, and still led by double digits (59-49) as the clock crossed the 10-minute mark
• Montclair State began to climb back with its own series of long-range treys, knocking down three in a row to make it 59-58 with 7:56 to go
• TCNJ managed to push its advantage out to six (64-58) on a Koch-to-Solomon feed and a three-point play by David Alexandre, who swiped steals on consecutive MSU possessions before his big bucket with 5:39 left
• From that point on, however, it was all Red Hawks. Montclair State connected on its next seven field goals – three of them 3-pointers – to storm in front, going ahead for good on a tie-breaking trey by Kunga Tsering with 3:03 remaining
• Mike Jackson made a 3 on the next trip, and Khyree Henry drained another to make it 77-68 with just 1:25 to go. TCNJ got within five (77-72) on a fast-break layup by Larranaga with 36.9 ticks showing, but the Red Hawks went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line to close it out

FOR THE FOES

• Jackson had 21 points for the Red Hawks, who made 16 3-pointers on the afternoon
• Keyon Price (18) and Tsering (14) also reached double figures, and Kieran Flanagan produced nine points and nine rebounds

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch scored at least 20 points for the third time this season and matched his career high with six assists
• Larranaga scored 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting
• Solomon notched his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 11 rebounds
• Beckwith finished with nine points, six rebounds, and four assists, and Alexandre matched him with nine markers off the bench
• Jack Vreeswyk had seven points and Okorie paired six points with seven boards
• TCNJ was just 1-of-11 from 3-point range in the second half, compared to 9-of-20 for MSU

NOTES

• TCNJ lost at Packer Hall for the first time in its last nine regular-season games
• Larranaga made three 3-pointers to run his career tally to 124, moving into the top-10 in program history

UP NEXT

• TCNJ hits the road to face Stockton next Wednesday