NEWARK, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team let a double-digit lead slip away in the second half before spending the final seven minutes snatching it all back, separating from Rutgers-Newark down the stretch for a 74-61 NJAC road win.
David Alexandre poured in a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the charge for the Lions (11-3, 4-3), who have won four in a row and moved over the break-even point in league play.
Jack Vreeswyk (13 points, seven rebounds),
Matthew Solomon (12 points, eight rebounds), and
Nick Koch (11 points, seven rebounds) all helped the blue and gold close the game on an 18-2 run after going behind, 59-56, with under seven minutes to play.
Alexandre had 13 points in a strong first half that saw the Lions open up a 41-29 lead at intermission. He hit a 3-pointer during an early 8-0 run after the Scarlet Raiders (5-9, 1-6) scored the game's first points, and Vreeswyk,
Anthony Milligan, and
Jonathan Okocha all nailed triples during a 13-2 spurt that left the Lions ahead 24-10 at the midway point of the period.
The game stalled into a lengthy delay in the final minute of the first half, when Alexandre fed Solomon for a ferocious two-handed dunk that broke the rim. After the rim was replaced, Alexandre scored just in front of the buzzer to send TCNJ into the locker room with a lead of a dozen.
Newark, however, came out of the break blazing and needed less than six minutes to embark on an 18-5 run that gave the hosts a 47-46 lead at the 14:22 mark. The lead changed hands several times from there, and the Lions found themselves in a 59-56 hole as the clock ticked past seven minutes. It was all TCNJ from there.
After a bucket by
Matthew Okorie, Alexandre gave the Lions the lead for good with a driving lay-in with 6:26 to go. Okocha and Alexandre sandwiched 3-pointers around a Newark free throw, the latter's try stretching the margin to 66-60 with 5 minutes left.
The Scarlet Raiders only scored one point from there, a free throw with 3:22 to go. Buckets by Vreeswyk and Solomon put the game away, and Vreeswyk and Koch each sank a pair at the line in the last 90 seconds.
FOR THE FOES
- Levi Holton had 15 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, but the Lions harassed him into six turnovers
- Donovan Crawford (14), Eli Camacho (13), and Travis Miles (10) also reached double figures
STANDOUT LIONS
- Alexandre was 9-of-15 from the field, made all three of his free throws, and handed out two assists without a turnover in his finest performance as a Lion
- Vreewswyk and Okocha (9 points) each hit three 3-pointers
- Solomon finished 6-of-9 form the floor and added three assists and three blocks
- Koch was just 2-of-13 from the field but provided a big boost with his seven boards, four assists, and two steals
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ shot just 38.8 percent overall (26-of-67) and 29.4 percent from 3-point range (10-of-34), but controlled the boards to a 48-35 advantage and racked up 18 second-chance points
- Both teams turned it over 14 times
- Rutgers-Newark was just 14-of-25 from the line
NOTES
- TCNJ has won two in a row against Newark, both by 13 points
- Okorie became the 18th player in program history to surpass 400 career rebounds
UP NEXT
- The Lions host Montclair State on Wednesday, January 15
