EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team grabbed another important NJAC victory on Saturday, staving off several second-half pushes by visiting Kean to secure an 84-76 decision inside Packer Hall.
Nick Koch led all scorers with 17 points for the Lions (14-4, 7-4), who salvaged a season split and pulled even with the Cougars (9-9, 7-4) in the crowded league table.
David Alexandre had 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists,
Jonathan Okocha added 16 of his own on perfect shooting, and
Matthew Okorie put in 15, including a couple critical triples in the second half.
TCNJ was in control for much of the first half, going up by double digits (16-6) less than four minutes in after Okocha sandwiched a pair of treys around one by
Matthew Solomon to key an early 11-0 run.
The Cougars clawed back to within 18-16, but Alexandre scored seven points in an answering 12-0 blitz that opened up a 14-point advantage at 30-16. The home side led by as many as 15 (43-28) before settling on a 45-34 halftime spread.
Kean came out determined after intermission and got within one or two possessions on a bevy of occasions, first at 50-46 with 15:08 to go. The Lions had an answer every time, this one on a rare 3-pointer by
Khalid Bakare, whose second career long ball pushed the lead back to seven.
The Cougars' next run got the visitors to within one at 55-54, but Solomon scored a tough basket inside and jammed home a resounding dunk before Okorie drained a 3 from the wing to make it 62-55 with 8:59 left.
Kean never got closer than four from there, but trimmed the margin down to five three times, including at 75-70 with 3:30 to go. But Alexandre made a free throw and the Lions got two stops on defense before Okocha splashed another 3-ball to put the Cougars in a 79-70 hole. Okocha made two free throws in the final minute to extend the margin out to double digits at 84-74 before Kean closed the scoring on a put-back with 2 ticks left.
FOR THE FOES
- Justin Morton led five in double figures with 16
- Trey Harts paired 15 points with nine rebounds
- D.J. Alicea finished with 13 points and seven boards, getting to the foul line 11 times
STANDOUT LIONS
- Koch got it going late in the first half with a series of buckets on his way to another TCNJ-leading tally
- Okocha was on fire, going 4-for-4 from long range and 5-of-5 overall
- Okorie finished 6-for-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 from distance
- The only starter to not score in double digits still turned in a hugely impactful performance, as Solomon produced a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out six assists
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ shot 50.0 percent from the field (30-for-60) and made 11 3-pointers
- The Lions outscored Kean, 38-26, in the paint
- TCNJ handed out 17 assists to just 10 turnovers
NOTES
- Koch is now 34 points shy of 1,000 for his career
- Okocha matched his career high with four 3-pointers, which he has done four times this year; it was the first time he had hit all four of his attempts
- Solomon has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in four straight games and moved into 8th on the all-time rebounding list with 597
- Solomon also surpassed 700 career points on Saturday
UP NEXT
- The Lions play another huge conference game on Wednesday, when they head to Stockton for an NJAC championship rematch
