GLASSBORO, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team pulled away late in the first half and held on down the stretch to knock off top-seeded Rowan, 79-73, on the road Wednesday night to book a trip to the NJAC championship game.
 
Nick Koch (25 points) and Matthew Okorie (21 points, 8 rebounds) did the lion's share of the heavy lifting as TCNJ built a big halftime lead and withstood several surges by the prolific Profs, ultimately hanging on to set up a Saturday night showdown at No. 2 Stockton – a 91-77 winner over No. 3 Montclair State – for the conference crown and automatic NCAA berth.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• TCNJ moved to 19-8 overall, while the Profs dropped to 19-7

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Lions announced their upset intentions quickly, bursting out to a 7-2 lead less than two minutes in after a 3-pointer by Okorie
• Rowan scored a quick seven of its own to take the lead, and five stalemates followed, the last at 25-all at the 7:26 mark of the first half
• James Beckwith's bucket after a steal by Anthony Milligan put the Lions ahead to stay and kicked off a 6-0 mini-run, which Ja'Zere Noel broke up with a bucket to make it 33-29 TCNJ with 4:36 to go before half
• The Lions took command from there, rattling off an 11-0 spurt with two buckets by Koch, a dunk from Solomon, and a 3-pointer from Okorie that extended the advantage to 44-29 before the teams traded field goals to end the half
• The Profs came out of the locker room on an 8-0 run to get within 46-39 before Koch ended a four-minute drought with a big basket
• Back-to-back buckets by Okorie and Solomon stretched the spread back out to 11 (56-45) just shy of the midway point of the stanza, but Rowan quickly got it down to 56-50
• That was one of several pushes by the Profs, who were turned away each time. Rowan got back within six at 62-56 and 65-59, but Koch answered with a 3-pointer the first time and Beckwith did so on the second
• The margin stayed right there at 68-62 when Koch picked Noel and fed ahead to David Alexandre for a breakaway lay-in
• The Profs cut it to 71-66 with 2:04 to go and had three straight possessions come up empty, two on open 3-pointers
• Okorie and Koch each hit two clutch free throws in the final minute, and Koch's foul shot with 8.6 seconds remaining made it a two-possession game (77-73). Rowan misfired on a desperation 3 on the other end

FOR THE FOES

• Khalif Meares led Rowan with 21 points, while Noel finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds but turned it over seven times
• Marcellus Ross had 13 points but was just 3-of-11 from distance, and Jamir Spivey had 10 points and eight boards

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch led all scorers and handed out four assists without a turnover
• Okorie was 8-of-13 from the field
• Solomon scored eight points and pulled down 17 rebounds, seven on the offensive end, and also blocked three shots
• Beckwith netted 10 points and Alexandre tallied eight

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 54.1 percent in the first half (20-of-37), enough to offset a 30-percent showing in the second
• The Lions racked up 18 assists, with a team-high five from Solomon, against only seven turnovers
• TCNJ limited Rowan to 37.8 percent from the field (31-of-82) and just 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from downtown

NOTES

• TCNJ is back in the NJAC title game for the first time since 2020, when the Lions took down Stockton for their first league crown since 1998
• Rowan has lost three times at home this season, two of them at the hands of TCNJ

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Stockton for the NJAC championship game, set for 5 p.m. Saturday night. The teams split their regular-season meetings, each winning on the road