MAHWAH, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team got a huge performance from Nick Koch and a well-rounded effort from his supporting cast to earn a wire-to-wire win, 81-74, at Ramapo in the quarterfinals of the NJAC Tournament on Saturday.
 
Koch tied for the game high with 29 points on a blistering 11-of-17 from the floor while David Alexandre (15 points, career-high 12 rebounds) and Matthew Solomon (10 points, 10 rebounds) came up with double-doubles to lift the fifth-seeded Lions to an impressive road triumph and into a semifinal showdown at top-seeded Rowan on Wednesday night.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• TCNJ improved to 18-8 overall and won the rubber match with the fourth-seeded Roadrunners, who saw their season come to an end with a record of 17-9

HOW IT HAPPENED

• TCNJ never trailed, but it was rarely comfortable against a Ramapo squad that had lost just once on its home floor during the regular season
• Koch scored 10 of TCNJ's first 12 points, getting hot early and never relenting. His floater in the paint made it 16-9, and 3-pointers by Anthony Milligan (19-13) and James Beckwith (26-20) helped keep the hosts at arm's length
• Ramapo got within one (26-25) at about the 6-minute mark of the first half, but Koch's 3-pointer – one of three on the day – prevented the Roadrunners from ever going in front
• Matthew Okorie's triple gave the Lions a 40-32 lead, and they kept that eight-point margin (42-34) at the break on another bucket by Koch
• TCNJ twice led by 10 in the opening minutes of the second half, the last at 46-36 after Koch's driving basket
• Ramapo got within three at 48-45, but Beckwith's 3-pointer capped a 6-0 run to push the lead back out to nine
• The Lions built out a lead of as much as a dozen (60-48) after a three-point play by Alexandre and a lay-up by Koch with 11:15 remaining before Ramapo responded with an 8-1 run to make it 61-56 with 8:26 to go
• Beckwith came up with a clutch triple to stop the spurt, as did Jonathan Okocha a few possessions later, and Ramapo was unable to get closer than five until Jordan Myers made it 71-67 with a bucket at the 2:04 mark
• Solomon and Alexandre proceeded to go 6-for-6 at the line to keep the Roadrunners at bay, and Alexandre's breakaway lay-up all but sealed it with 26 seconds to go

FOR THE FOES

• Peter Gorman matched Koch with 29 points, going 11-for-11 at the foul line
• Myers had 21 points and 15 rebounds when Ramapo won last weekend's meeting, 88-83, in the same building, but TCNJ limited him to 11 and 6, respectively, this time around
• Anthony Corbo (11P/8R) and Shane Rooney (9P/8R) each had near double-doubles, but Justin Bladen was scoreless after scoring 17 a week ago

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch was brilliant, making all three of his 3-point attempts and handing out four assists in 34 sparkling minutes
• Alexandre was 7-of-8 at the line and his 12 boards were three more than his previous career high
• Beckwith tallied a critical 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, making three 3's
• Solomon was 4-for-5 from the field en route to his 14^th double-double of the year

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 52.8 percent for the day (28-of-53) and made 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the arc
• The Lions held a 39-31 rebounding edge

NOTES

• Koch now has 115 assists this season, tied for 9^th in program history
• Beckwith now has 52 3-pointers on the year, the 18^th season in school history with 50-plus triples
• TCNJ has advanced to the NJAC semifinals for the third time in four seasons

UP NEXT

• TCNJ heads to Glassboro to take on the nationally ranked Profs. The teams split the regular-season series, each winning on the other's home floor. Tip is set for 7 p.m.