EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team could hardly have scripted Senior Day any better.

The seven-man senior class all played major roles as the Lions built a big lead and staved off a late Ramapo run to secure an 82-77 NJAC victory in Saturday's Packer Hall finale. The victory officially clinched a playoff berth for TCNJ, which will head to Kean for a first-round clash next Saturday.

Clemente finished a whisker shy of a triple-double with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists to lead the way for the Lions (9-15, 8-9), which got 55 points from its seniors – not including seven from Jason Larranaga, a senior academically who will return for a fifth season.

After honoring manager Cam Bogdanoff alongside Danny Bodine, Naysean Burch, Jim Clemente, Trevor Covey, Anthony DiCaro, Jose Estevez, and Olare Oladipo in a pregame ceremony, an all-senior starting lineup came out hot and staked TCNJ to an early lead. Burch nearly slammed home the first possession, but was fouled and hit one free throw to open the scoring. Oladipo and Estevez then scored on a pair of pin-point passes from Clemente, and the Lions were off and running with a 5-0 lead. Bodine's 3-pointer gave TCNJ the first eight points of the afternoon, and a ferocious put-back slam extended it to double digits at 12-2.

The senior spree continued as Covey buried a pair of early 3-pointers to keep the Lions in cruise control.

One particular sequence stood out as illustrative of the seniors' dominance. Danny Bodine swatted aside a Ramapo runner and Covey snagged the rebound, pushing the pace before ultimately setting up Bodine with a wide-open 3 in the corner to give the Lions a 34-24 lead. The margin expanded to 14 (38-24) on back-to-back buckets by Clemente and Matthew Solomon, and TCNJ managed to take a 16-point lead into halftime at 46-30.

The Lions were nearly flawless in the first half, shooting 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. They had 11 assists on those 16 made field goals – five from Clemente – and committed only four turnovers.

The senior class combined to score 33 points on 13-of-18 from the floor in the opening half.

The Lions led by as many as 23 (60-37) on a three-point play by Bodine with 15:03 remaining and still led by 14 (77-63) on a dunk by Matthew Solomon with just 3:23 to play. The Roadrunners continued to claw, however, and gave TCNJ some anxious moments later as Peter Gorman made a 3-pointer to get within 80-77 with 8.1 seconds to play. DiCaro, however, knocked down two free throws at the other end to ice it.

Gorman gave Ramapo a fighting chance with 34 points and seven assists, while Jordan Myers (15) and Elijah Barlow (12) also landed in double figures.

Bodine collected 17 points and six rebounds, with Solomon (11) and Covey (11) joining the fifth-year forward and Clemente in double figures. Covey hit three 3-pointers and finished one point shy of a career high.

Larranaga and Pat Higgins had seven points apiece, while DiCaro finished with six points and four assists.

Burch totaled five points, Oladipo had four, and Estevez netted his first two markers of the year.

TCNJ shot 53.7 percent for the day (29-of-54) and outrebounded Ramapo, 39-27. They racked up 46 points in the paint to just 18 for the undersized Roadrunners.

The Lions look to finish .500 in league play with a win at Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday night.