EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team sliced a 14-point second-half deficit down to four but couldn't quite get over the hump as visiting Rowan survived the Lions' stiff challenge for a 92-83 NJAC victory on Wednesday night.
Nick Koch dropped a team-high 23 points for the Lions, who got 16 points and 15 rebounds from
Matthew Solomon, 16 from
Jack Vreeswyk, and 14 out of
Matthew Okorie. It wasn't quite enough to overcome Ja'Zere Noel (33 points, 12 rebounds) and the Profs' three stars, who combined for 70 points.
FOR THE RECORD
- Both teams now stand at 14-5 overall and 8-4 in the NJAC, and are tied for first place with Stockton – which lost to Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday – and Montclair State with six league games remaining
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Rowan came out of the gates red-hot, making eight of its first ten from the field to go up 17-8 inside of five minutes
- The Lions responded with eight quick points of their own, highlighted by a pair of triples from Okorie, but Rowan steadily began to amass a sizeable lead from there
- The Profs went on a 13-0 run lasting a little over two minutes to snatch their largest lead of the night at 41-25 at the 6:03 mark of the frame
- Undaunted, David Alexandre and Okorie banged home back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead down to 49-41, and the Lions got as close as seven before Rowan got consecutive buckets from Noel to restore a double-digit spread (54-43) at intermission
- TCNJ made its move at the 14-minute mark of the second half. Trailing 66-52, the Lions ripped off nine straight points, forcing three Rowan turnovers and going 4-for-4 from the field on the other end to trim the deficit all the way down to five with a healthy 11:28 left on the clock. Vreeswyk, Koch, Solomon, and Alexandre all had baskets during the stretch
- Two Alexandre free throws got Rowan's lead down to 68-64 at the 9:25 mark, but TCNJ was unable to get any closer. The Profs got back-to-back buckets from Noel and Khalif Meares to make it 74-66, then a 3-pointer from Drew Amos and another Noel field goal brought the lead out to 79-68 with 5:37 remaining
- The Lions twice pulled to within seven, but were unable to capitalize on three combined possessions with a chance to get closer
FOR THE FOES
- Noel was 15-for-21 from the field and added four blocks on the defensive end; he scored the Profs' first 10 points of the second half
- Meares (19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and Marcellus Ross (18 points, six rebounds) also had big games
STANDOUT LIONS
- Koch went 8-for-16 from the field and 7-for-8 at the line, also handing out seven assists
- Solomon matched his second-highest rebounding total of the season in his 10th double-double
- Vreeswyk hit 16 points for the second game in a row, his sixth double-figure output of the year
- Okorie scored all 14 of his points in the first half and grabbed seven rebounds
- Alexandre scored 11 points before fouling out late
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ, at one point, grabbed eight straight rebounds in the first half, and Solomon was at the heart of it. The sophomore standout pulled in five offensive boards in the first eight minutes alone, half of the team's 10 for the first half. He finished with 10 total offensive caroms
- Rowan shot a robust 57.4 percent (35-for-61) and were just shy of 70 percent overall near the midway point of the second half
- The Lions were just 8-for-32 from 3-point range (25.0 percent), including 1-for-11 in the second half
UP NEXT
- TCNJ heads to Montclair State on Saturday for another critical NJAC showdown
