UNION, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team proved the truth of an old sports cliché: It's hard to beat a team three times.
The fifth-seeded Lions survived a game-tying circus shot at the end of regulation and an overturned go-ahead shot at the end of overtime to keep their season alive with a nerve-wracking 85-81 victory at fourth-seeded Kean in the first round of the NJAC Tournament. TCNJ avenged a pair of losses to the Cougars in the regular season and booked a trip to top-seeded Rowan on Tuesday for the semifinal round.
TCNJ (10-16) trailed for all of 29 seconds on the night, but had to overcome the shock of a remarkable fadeaway jumper by Letrell West to tie the game at 73 with 6 seconds left on the clock after the Lions had turned it over on a 5-second call.
Jason Larranaga netted a pair of field goals as the visitors scored the first seven points of the extra session before Kean (18-8) got back within two and had a chance to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds. The Cougars appeared to have done just that on a 3-pointer by West, but the Kean guard was ruled to have stepped out of bounds to the consternation of the home crowd. Larranaga's two free throws on the other end officially iced it.
Anthony DiCaro finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his third career double-double, and backcourt mate
Pat Higgins nearly equaled him with 19 points and eight boards of his own.
Danny Bodine tallied 14 points and eight rebounds, Larranaga scored six of his 13 in OT, and
Jim Clemente also narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and eight boards.
The game was a thriller from start to finish – tied at halftime and at the end of regulation. With Kean missing its injured star forward, TCNJ had a plan to dominate the glass and executed to perfection, piling up 17 offensive rebounds as part of a 51-34 rebounding advantage.
TCNJ twice led by double-digits in the first half, on back-to-back buckets by
Matthew Solomon that granted the visitors leads of 22-11 and 24-13. The Cougars erased every bit of it by halftime, pulling into a 36-all deadlock.
The lead fluctuated between one and five points early in the second half before a 9-0 run moved it back out to double figures.
Matthew Okorie scored inside before a three-point play by Higgins and consecutive field goals by DiCaro made it 55-45 with 12:23 remaining.
The Cougars came back with six straight points and continued to claw at the Lions' lead, getting within two before a massive 3 by Bodine put TCNJ on top, 63-58, with 5:35 to play.
After Heem Burno split a pair at the line to trim TCNJ's edge to 69-68, DiCaro put on a dazzling display of dribbling to shake loose for a left-handed lay-in with 1:16 to go, and Higgins' free throws with 18 seconds showing put the Lions in command with a 73-69 advantage.
Kean, however, scored on the other end and forced a 5-second call on the inbound, setting up West's improbable shot over airtight defense from Okorie. DiCaro had a look to end it, but his long 3 was off line and the teams headed to OT.
Larranaga opened the scoring in the extra period on an assist from Solomon, and Higgins notched a bucket of his own before Larranaga got free again. Bodine's free throw made it 80-73 before Jailen Jamison got the Cougars on the board with a 3-pointer. Kean eventually pulled within two and nearly took the lead in the final seconds, but the out-of-bounds call effectively ended the hosts' chances.
Jamison led all scorers with 24 pints and West added 19 for the Cougars.
TCNJ finished 7-for-28 from 3-point range, including 2-for-16 after halftime, but the Lions' immense rebounding edge led to 16 second-chance points and prevented the Cougars from taking advantage.
The Lions will try to take down another opponent that it was swept by in the regular season on Tuesday, when they hope to shock No. 1 seed Rowan in South Jersey.
