KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The TCNJ men's basketball team used a 20-0 blitz midway through the first half to leave Merchant Marine far behind in an 84-52 victory Wednesday night in the final game of the calendar year.
 
Matthew Solomon notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lions (8-3), who were tied at 12 with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half before Jack Vreeswyk ignited the extended spurt that lasted well over five minutes. Vreeswyk made four 3-pointers to match Jonathan Okocha, the pair each totaling 12 points to equal Nick Koch's output.
 
Every healthy Lion played and 14 of them scored for TCNJ, which outscored the Mariners, 25-4, over the last 10 minutes of the first frame and led by as many as 40 in the second.
 
With the sides knotted at 12 after an uneven start, Vreeswyk's triple took the lid off the basket for the blue and gold. Solomon scored on a three-point play and added a dunk before Vreeswyk canned another triple, and by the time Koch got into the lane for consecutive buckets it was 32-12 in favor of TCNJ.
 
The Mariners (4-5) never got closer than 20 in the second half, and TCNJ went on runs of eight and nine consecutive points during the rout.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – TCNJ

• The Lions shot 52.9 percent in the second half (18-of-34), bringing their final tally to 45.2 percent for the night (33-of-73)
• TCNJ outrebounded USMMA, 49-33, on the glass and racked up 20 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 second-chance points
• The Lions converted 24 Mariner turnovers into 41 points on the other end
• Solomon was 5-for-9 from the field and added four assists to his double-double
• Koch supplemented his 6-for-12 effort from the floor with five boards and five assists
• Okocha (4-for-6) and Vreeswyk (4-of-8) combined to go 8-for-14 from 3-point range

 INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – USMMA

• Drew Zalescik led the Mariners with 21 points
• USMMA shot just 32.7 percent from the field (16-of-49) and 2-of-18 from beyond the arc
• The Mariners put up 24 fewer shots than the Lions for the night

NOTES

• Solomon moved past Jordan Glover '19 and into the top-10 all-time at TCNJ with 525 career rebounds
• The double-double was the 19^th of Solomon's career
• Daniel Yarus made a 3-pointer for his first career points, and Nick Seeloch netted his second career made basket
• Matthew Okorie paired six points with nine rebounds, while Shaun Johnson had four points and five boards in 10 effective minutes off the bench

UP NEXT

• The Lions host DeSales on Saturday, January 4