MADISON, N.J. – Nick Koch exploded for a career-high 37 points and the TCNJ men's basketball team tipped off the new season in style with a 92-62 rout of Centenary in the opener of FDU-Florham's tournament on Friday night.
Koch was a sizzling 16-for-20 from the field, scoring the first eight points and 16 of the first 19 for the reigning NJAC champions.
Matthew Okorie added 13 points and
Matthew Solomon started off the year with another double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) as TCNJ shot 58.3 percent for the night (35-for-60).
The Lions trailed just once, at 5-3 early on, before Koch took command. He splashed a 3-pointer to cap his personal run of eight consecutive markers and give TCNJ the lead for good, and the junior guard scored four more points in a 5-second span to push the margin to double digits (17-7) at the 13:12 mark of the half.
A 3-pointer from Solomon and a put-back by
Anthony Milligan extended the spread to 24-9 at the midway point of the first frame, but the Cyclones got within five (28-23) on the back of a 9-0 run.
Later, Koch sandwiched back-to-back buckets around one by Centenary and drained another triple to make it 37-27, and the Lions took a 43-34 lead into the break.
The margin fluctuated between seven and 12 for most of the early part of the second half, until Okorie's two-handed flush off a feed from Solomon put the Lions in front by double digits to stay at 59-48 with 11:34 to go.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from
Jonathan Okocha and
David Alexandre made it 69-50 at the 9-minute mark.
Jack Vreeswyk connected on consecutive triples just past the 5-minute mark to extend it to 83-60, and three more buckets from Koch, Alexandre, and Mlligan capped a 12-0 run for an 89-60 advantage.
Jordan Robinson's free throw with 3 seconds left provided the final 30-point differential.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ was a remarkable 26-for-36 (72.2 percent) from inside the 3-point line
- The Lions outrebounded Centenary, 36-25, and racked up 50 points in the paint
- TCNJ limited the Cyclones to 24-of-62 from the field (38.3 percent) and allowed just four 3-pointers
- Okorie was 4-for-6 from the field, while Solomon finished 3-of-6 and pulled down five offensive boards
- Okocha scored a career-high nine points and added four rebounds
- Alexandre (8 points, 5 assists) and Milligan (8 points, 5 rebounds) had solid supporting efforts
NOTES
- Koch's scoring matched Anthony DiCaro's 37 points against Montclair State on December 4, 2021 for the most in a single game since Travis Jocelyn poured in 43 against Stockton in February of that year
- Solomon notched his 17th career double-double
UP NEXT
- The Lions will play for the tournament title against Drew at 7 p.m. Saturday
