MAHWAH, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team went back and forth with Ramapo all afternoon, but the host Roadrunners had just enough to edge out an 88-83 NJAC barn-burner on Saturday.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• Both teams are 16-8 overall and 10-7 in NJAC play, tied for fourth place. The Lions and Roadrunners could easily meet again in the first round of the conference tournament next weekend

HOW IT HAPPENED

• TCNJ held a pair of early six-point leads, the first coming at 13-7 after a personal 7-0 run by Nick Koch
• The Lions continued to hang onto a slim advantage until Ramapo grabbed a 29-28 lead on a 3-pointer by Elijah Barlow with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. The upper hand switched sides five more times before the break, which saw the Roadrunners ahead 37-36
• TCNJ scored the first five points of the second half, taking the lead back on a 3-pointer by Jason Larranaga and upping it to four (41-37) on two free throws by Koch
• Ramapo, however, ran off the next 11 points – eight by Justin Bladen – and eventually led by as many as eight, 52-44, with 15:25 to go
• Larranaga answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to thin the margin down to two, but the visitors were unable to get over the hump until a 3-pointer by David Alexandre and a basket from Matthew Okorie leveled the proceedings at 62 with 8:44 remaining
• Ramapo scored the next five points but the Lions refused to go away, getting triples from Jonathan Okocha and Okorie to make it 69-68 with 7:05 to go
• The Roadrunners kept TCNJ at arm's length with another 6-0 run, and the visitors never got closer than three the rest of the way

FOR THE FOES

• Jordan Myers dominated inside with 21 points and 15 rebounds
• Peter Gorman matched Myers with 21 points while also adding eight assists and six rebounds
• Bladen made all four of his 3-pointers en route to 17 points, with Barlow (14) and Shane Rooney (10 points, 9 rebounds) also hitting double digits

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch tied for the game lead with 21 points and also had six assists
• Okorie was 7-of-11 from the floor for 16 points and also pulled down nine rebounds
• Alexandre netted 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and Larranaga finished with 13 on 5-of-9 from the field
• Matthew Solomon finished with nine points and five rebounds

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ had a solid day shooting, going 47.7 percent overall (31-for-65). However, the Lions were just 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half before making 7-of-13 after intermission
• TCNJ dominated the paint, 44-22, but Ramapo shot 60.7 percent in the second half (17-for-28) and made 8-of-15 from 3-point range, about twice its average output

UP NEXT

• The Lions close out the regular season at home against Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday, which will double as Senior Night