EWING, N.J. - The TCNJ men's basketball rode the hot hand of Nick Koch to a 76-62 win over Rutgers-Camden Wednesday night, ending the Lions' two-game skid in convincing fashion. The junior continued his red hot start to the season, dropping a game-high 30 points on 9-11 shooting from the field and 4-4 from 3-point territory to help TCNJ get back in the win column.
 
Koch was joined in double figures by Matthew Okorie (18) while Matthew Solomon corralled a team-high 10 rebounds to pair with his five assists. Solomon's assist total was matched by David Alexandre, who also finished with a game-high six steals in the victory.
 
The Lions (7-2, 2-2 NJAC) leapt out to a 13-3 lead early thanks to nine points from Koch before the visitors mirrored the run to knot things at 16 halfway into the first. Points were few and far between in the ensuing four minutes before a pair of freebies from Jack Vreeswyk started an 11-4 run that put TCNJ back in front 29-21. Koch and Alexandre hit back-to-back triples to balloon the lead to 12 with a minute to go, with the sides trading paint buckets to send TCNJ into the break up 37-25.
 
The second half belonged to Koch and Okorie, who combined for the Lions' first 16 points of the frame to give themselves an 18-point lead at 53-35. An Okorie layup coming off a steal from Alexandre made it a 20-point game with 11:13 to go before the Scarlet Raptors (5-5, 0-4 NJAC) attempted to make a comeback.
 
Despite a pair of buckets from Solomon and another Okorie lay, Rutgers-Camden trimmed the lead to as few at 12 with 4:05 to go. That is as close as the visitors would get, however, with the trio of Solomon, Koch and Okorie keeping TCNJ firmly in the driver's seat en route to the 76-62 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Koch's 30-point game was his second of the season. The junior leads the team in scoring, averaging 22.2 points while shooting nearly 55% from the field.
• Okorie is the lone other player to have scored in double figures in every game this season, averaging a career-high 16.1 points. The senior has also notably drained his last 24 free throws –he went 6-6 tonight – dating back to November 16.
• The Lions narrowly outrebounded the Scarlet Raptors 32-31 thanks to Solomon's game-high 10 boards. With his total in Wednesday's game, the senior became just the 13th player in program history to eclipse 500 career rebounds.
• Alexandre's six thefts are a new career high, with the sophomore having registered multiple steals in four of his last five games. The six steals are the most by a Lion since former men's basketball GA and current interim men's soccer coach P.J. Ringel had six on February 13, 2021, also against Rutgers-Camden, and no TCNJ player has had more than six in at least 20 years
• Paced by Alexandre, the Lions set a new season-best mark with 12 steals, resulting in 20 points on the other end.

UP NEXT

• TCNJ is on the road Saturday, Dec. 14 to take on Ramapo in NJAC action. Opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m.