COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The TCNJ men's basketball team took care of the ball and a solid Ursinus squad with an emphatic 97-71 rout in Collegeville on Saturday.
 
Nick Koch led all scorers with 20 points and David Alexandre chipped in a career-high 18 on 8-of-9 shooting for the Lions (5-0), who got more assists from Koch (7) than total turnovers (6) in a highly efficient performance that left the Lions with their perfect mark firmly intact.
 
Matthew Okorie (14), Jack Vreeswyk (13), and Jonathan Okocha (12) also landed in double figures for TCNJ, which has scored at least 80 points in all five games to open the season.
 
The final score was lopsided, but much of the first half was not. The lead changed hands eight times in the first seven minutes and change, with Vreeswyk's 3-pointer putting the Lions on top for good, 21-20, in a breathless opening and kick-starting a 10-0 run that also included a 3-pointer from Matthew Solomon and a driving basket by Alexandre just shy of the midway point.
 
It only took eight minutes for TCNJ to turn a two-point deficit into a 20-point margin. After the Bears (3-2) ended the 10-point burst, Vreeswyk and Alexandre connected on triples in a three-possession span to go up 34-22, and another 10-0 spurt featuring a three-point play from Thomas Menyhert left Ursinus in a 44-24 hole.
 
The Lions never let the Bears up for air after halftime. The blue and gold built the lead up to 33 (76-43) in just over seven minutes, getting two triples from Okorie and another from Okocha to stamp an 11-2 run.
 
A four-point play by Vreeswyk put TCNJ up 81-45, with 10 minutes to go, and the spread eventually swelled as large as 42 (91-49) on a lay-in by Menyhert with 6:14 to play.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 48.7 percent overall (37-for-76), including a 52.6-percent clip in the first half (20-for-38)
• The Lions made 12 triples and held the Bears to a 5-for-28 effort (17.9 percent) from beyond the arc
• TCNJ dished out 17 assists to just six turnovers, and converted eight measly miscues into 16 points on the other end
• The blue and gold piled up 50 points in the paint and 21 second-chance points on the back of 15 offensive rebounds and a 49-38 surplus on the glass
• Koch racked up seven assists without a turnover
• Alexandre was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and made all six of his shots inside the arc, also supplying five rebounds, two assists, and two steals
• Okorie was 6-for-8 from the floor, and Vreeswyk made three 3-pointers and all four of his foul shots
• Okocha made three treys and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds
• Solomon finished with nine points and six rebounds
• Menyhert had career highs of five points and five rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench
• Connor Howard scored his first two points of the season

NOTES

• The Lions extended their best start since going 7-0 in the COVID-shortened campaign
• TCNJ has at least 10 offensive rebounds in every game this season
• Okorie has hit double figures in all five games
• Vreeswyk has four straight double-digit games on his ledger, and Okocha's streak is at three contests

UP NEXT

• The Lions open NJAC play at William Paterson on Tuesday