CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The 24th-ranked TCNJ men's basketball team's Wednesday night bout against DeSales was far from the prettiest basketball fans have seen this season, but – thanks in large part to the play of seniors Nick Koch and Matthew Solomon – the Lions picked up a gritty, 65-62 win over the Bulldogs in their penultimate contest before NJAC play tips off next week.
 
Koch led TCNJ (4-1) offensively for the third time this season with 20 points – nearly a third of the Lions' final scoring output – while Solomon's 13 points and 13 rebounds marked the Spring Lake Heights native's first double double of the 2025-26 campaign. David Alexandre and Mason Mangione narrowly missed out on double figures themselves at nine points apiece, with Alexandre adding six rebounds, three assists and a game-high three steals in another all-around effort from the junior that helped seal the win.
 
As was the case in TCNJ's battle against Wesleyan last weekend, the Lions did their damage from behind the arc early. Khalid Bakare got things started with just his third collegiate triple before deep shots from Jonathan Okocha and Alexandre on TCNJ's ensuing two possessions gave the Lions a 13-7 advantage. Threes from Mangione and Solomon ballooned the lead to nine at 21-12 just under midway through the opening half before DeSales (2-2) responded with a quick 6-0 run to trim the lead back to three.
 
Lucas Dipasupil sandwiched a pair of layups around a Bulldogs bunny to give TCNJ a 25-20 advantage, with the sides trading buckets down the stretch before the half came to a close with the Lions up 33-29.
 
Wednesday's second half belonged to Koch, with the senior pouring in 15 of his team-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes including a number of clutch buckets down the stretch to clinch the road win.
 
With TCNJ up two at the 13:52 mark following an Alexandre tip-in, it was the senior rattling off the Lions' next nine points to build the lead to four with less than nine minutes on the clock. TCNJ's advantage grew to as much as eight, but DeSales was able to erase the deficit completely with an 8-0 burst knotting things back up at 56 at the under four. There to answer the call once again, however, was Koch.
 
With the game on the line, the senior scored or assisted on the Lions' final nine points of the game, with a pair of clutch free throws with eight seconds on the clock securing TCNJ the 65-62 win in hostile territory.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Lions struggled all night offensively despite the win, shooting 38.7 percent (24-62) from the field, 26.7 percent (8-30) from 3-point land and 52.9 percent from the free throw line.
• DeSales shot 34 percent (18-53) from the floor, 26.1 percent (6-23) from deep and 83.3 percent (20-24) from the charity stripe
• TCNJ held narrow advantages in the rebound battle (41-39) and second-chance points (11-9).
• The Lions turned 10 Bulldogs turnovers into 13 points on the other end.

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch reached the 20-point mark for the third time this season
• Solomon's double-double is the senior's first this season and the 27th of his career.
• Mangione has now hit multiple triples in each of TCNJ's last three games.

FOR THE FOES

• Jayden Thomas led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 50 percent (6-12) from the field and 13-16 from the free throw line.
• Brendan Boyle also reached double figures with 10 points while Luke Keppel led DeSales with eight rebounds.

NOTES

• Koch surpassed Sean Covingon '99 and moved into 11th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,315 career points; he needs just nine to move into the top-10
• Koch handed out three assists, moving past Steve Hund '91 and into fourth all-time with 291. Next on the all-time charts is former assistant coach P.J. Ringel '21 at 294, and only Covington (383) and Eric Murdock Jr. (512) have reached the 300-assist mark for a career.

UP NEXT

• The Lions open up conference play Tuesday, Nov. 25 when they host William Paterson. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.