MADISON, N.J. – For the second year in a row, the No. 24 TCNJ men's basketball team found itself locked in a nip-and-tuck nail-biter with Drew in the championship of a season-opening tournament on November 9. Unfortunately for the Lions, it was the Rangers' turn to even the score.
A year to the day after the Lions claimed FDU-Florham's tip-off event with a double-overtime victory over Drew, the Rangers exacted a measure of revenge by pulling away in the second half and staving off each of the Lions' multiple opportunities to tie the game or take the lead in the final minute. When the dust settled, Drew lifted the trophy on its home floor with an 82-78 triumph.
While Drew (2-0) employed a balanced attack that resulted in five players scoring between 12 and 15 points, the Lions got more than half of their scoring output from
David Alexandre and
Nick Koch. Alexandre poured in a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Koch – who piled up 31 points in Saturday's win over FDU-Florham – finished with 19.
Nearly the entire game stayed was played within a single-digit margin in a rematch befitting the teams' resumes – TCNJ with its preseason national ranking and Drew with its status as reigning Landmark Conference champion. The Rangers scored a quick five points after tip-off, only for back-to-back 3s by
Daniel Yarus and Koch to spark an 8-0 run and a 14-10 lead for the Lions.
A 3-pointer by
Mason Mangione and consecutive baskets from Koch and
Matthew Solomon gave TCNJ its largest lead of the first half at 27-21, but Drew nosed in front, 32-31, on a triple with 5:22 remaining. The lead changed hands several more times until the Rangers knocked down another 3 just before the buzzer to take a 45-43 advantage into the break.
The Lions came out cold in the second half, going more than five minutes without a point as Drew opened up an eight-point edge at 51-43. Solomon cut it to 51-48 with a three-point play, but the home side countered with a quick 7-0 burst to push the spread out to double digits for the first time at 58-48 with 12:30 to go.
Lucas Dipasupil stopped the bleeding with a triple, however, and Alexandre tipped in a missed shot before draining a long ball of his own to get the blue and gold within 62-60 at the 9:29 mark.
The Lions never got closer than that, and looked dead to rights facing an 80-70 deficit with under two minutes to play. They had other ideas, though, reeling off eight straight points – including a 3 from Alexandre – to trim the deficit down to 80-78 on Alexandre's free throw with 26 seconds showing.
Jonathan Okocha misfired on a potential tying jumper, but Alexandre corralled the offensive rebound and was fouled, going to the line with 4 seconds left and a chance to tie. He missed both shots, however, and the Rangers made two at the other end to ice it.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Drew shot 43.8 percent from the field (28-of-64), 32.4 percent from 3-point range (11-for-34), and 75.0 percent at the line (15-for-20)
- TCNJ was 44.1 percent from the floor (30-of-68), 30.4 percent from long range (7-for-23), and just 52.4 percent at the charity stripe (11-for-21)
- The Rangers held a 46-39 edge on the glass to counteract an 18-13 surplus in turnovers
STANDOUT LIONS
- Alexandre added five rebounds and five assists to his game-high 21 points
- Koch paired 19 points with six rebounds
- Solomon just missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards
- Jordan Robinson scored a career-high eight points
NOTES
- Koch passed TCNJ legend Greg Grant and moved into 5th on the program's all-time list with his 274th career assist
UP NEXT
- The Lions host CCNY in the opener of the Greg Grant Tip-Off Tournament on Friday, which also features Johnson & Wales and 13th-ranked Wesleyan
