EWING, N.J. – With the last few seconds of regulation ticking away, it seemed like the No. 24 TCNJ men's basketball team would be unable to claim the Greg Grant Tip-Off championship against No. 13 Wesleyan.
Matthew Solomon, however, had other ideas.
With seven seconds left on the clock and the Lions down by 3,
Nick Koch took the inbounds pass and looked for space to fire from deep. A Wesleyan defender forced Koch to pick up his dribble, but Koch spotted a wide-open Solomon on the left wing, and fired it over. Solomon sank the clutch three-pointer as timed expired to send the game into overtime, and the Lions managed to outlast the Cardinals, 92-90, after the extra session to defend their tip-off title for the third year in a row.
The victory was a signature one for the Lions (3-1) against a Wesleyan program that went 30-2 and made the Final Four a year ago.
In the extra period, the Lions found themselves down 86-84. Solomon came up big again, hitting two clutch free throws to kick-start a mini 8-4 run that won the game for TCNJ. Koch was also huge in overtime, as he scored six of his game-high 28 points in that period. Koch was a solid 10-20 from the field while going 2-5 from long range and 6-7 from the free throw line. Solomon had a near triple double: 21 points (7-13 FG, 4-7 3PT, 3-6 FT), 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. Before this game, Solomon had no three-pointers made on the season.
Two other TCNJ starters,
David Alexandre and
Jonathan Okocha, scored double-digit points. Alexandre made his presence felt on both sides of the floor, pouring in 21 points while playing disruptive defense for 43 minutes. Okocha continued his hot shooting, scoring 17 points on 5-9 from the field and 3-6 from deep; he also snared 8 rebounds and two key steals down the stretch. For his excellent performance over the past two days, he was named the 2025 Greg Grant Tip-Off Tournament MVP.
Solomon scored the first five points, on a 3-pointer and a dunk, as part of a torrid start for TCNJ, which roared out to an 18-4 lead in front of a raucous crowd. The Lions led by double digits for much of the first half, but the Cardinals gradually chipped away and whittled the lead down to two (38-36) at the break.
Wesleyan took its first lead at 40-39, but Koch answered with a 3-pointer to set off a series of lead changes in the early portion of the second half. TCNJ had gained some cushion at 65-56 after consecutive treys from Alexandre and
Mason Mangione, and still maintained that nine-point edge after Alexandre sank two free throws to make it 70-61 with 5:39 remaining.
The Cardinals, however, used a pair of 7-0 runs to overtake TCNJ and nose in front, 75-74, on a 3-pointer with 2:18 to play.
Daniel Yarus responded with his own triple, but Wesleyan made one of its own on the next possession to go back ahead, 78-77. It was 80-77 after a Cardinal scored a bucket with a foul, and the visitors had a chance to put the game away after grabbing the offensive rebound on the missed free throw, but TCNJ forced a turnover and got to within one on two Koch free throws.
Wesleyan went up 82-79 on two free throws of its own, but elected not to foul on the final possession, and Solomon burned the Cardinals with his clutch game-tying triple.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ shot 43.5 percent from the field (30-for-69) and was 15-of-38 from 3-point range (39.5 percent), helping to offset Wesleyan's sizeable advantage in rebounding (47-33)
- Wesleyan was 46.3 percent from the floor (37-of-80) but made just 6-of-21 from long distance (28.6 percent)
- The Lions handed out 18 assists to just 10 turnovers
NOTES
- Koch passed Kyle Burke '05 and moved into 12th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,295 career points
- Koch's six assists gave him 288 for his career, tied with Steve Hund '91 for fourth all-time
UP NEXT
- Following this win, TCNJ will travel to DeSales for a non-conference game on Wednesday before kicking off NJAC play on the 25th of November at home versus William Paterson.
2025 Greg Grant Tip-Off All-Tournament Team
Justin Morety (CCNY)
Azariah Harrison (JWU)
Fritz Hauser (WES)
Nick Koch (TCNJ)
Jonathan Okocha (TCNJ) - MVP
