GALLOWAY, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team could not sustain a quick start and succumbed to a Stockton onslaught in an 85-57 NJAC defeat on Wednesday night.
 
The Lions (14-5, 7-5) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end as the Ospreys stayed atop the NJAC standings and completed a regular-season sweep.
 
Jonathan Okocha buried a 3-pointer on the opening possession and the Lions stymied Stockton early, accumulating a 9-1 lead after nearly seven minutes of play. TCNJ still carried a 14-7 lead after a three-point play by Jack Vreeswyk with 9:13 to go in the first half.
 
EJ Matthews-Spratley caught fire from there, knocking down three 3-pointers and a jumper as part of a 20-4 run that put the Ospreys (14-5, 9-3) in control with a 27-18 lead that eventually grew to 33-22 at the break.
 
Trailing 41-24 after another triple by Matthews-Spratley, the Lions made a charge with an 11-1 run bookended by a pair of Okocha 3-pointers to slice the deficit down to 42-35 with 15:42 remaining.
 
Stockton, however, scored on its next four possessions – three of them 3-pointers, two of which came from Matthews-Spratley – to concoct an 11-0 run in the span of just over 90 seconds. The blue and gold never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
 
FOR THE FOES

• Matthews-Spratley carried the Ospreys on this night, pouring in 31 points on seven treys and grabbing nine rebounds
• Logan McKee (12 points) and Michael Evans (10) combined for 22 points in just 17 minutes off the bench
• Christian Armstrong-Thomas paired seven points with nine rebounds

STANDOUT LIONS

• Nick Koch led TCNJ with 17 points
• Okocha made four 3-pointers en route to a 12-point night
• Matthew Solomon had eight points and nine boards, while David Alexandre finished with seven points and a game-high six assists

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot a season-worst 28.4 percent from the field and went just 6-for-37 (16.2 percent) from 3-point range, including 1-of-17 in the first half
• Stockton shot a modest 42.3 percent from the field but went 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) from distance
• The Ospreys held a 54-38 advantage on the glass and scored 19 second-chance points
• The Lions handed out 12 assists to just eight turnovers

NOTES

• Solomon passed Ryan Jensen '20 for 7^th on the program's all-time rebounding list (606)
• Matthew Okorie moved up two spots to 14^th on the rebounding charts (439)
• Koch is now 17 points from 1,000 for his career

UP NEXT

• The Lions host Ramapo in a huge NJAC game on Saturday