CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The TCNJ men's basketball team concluded the 2025 portion of its schedule with a 95-69 setback at the hands of No. 7 Emory on Saturday at the Jay Bilas Classic in Charlotte.
 
The Lions (8-4) hung around with the high-powered Eagles for a half, but fell victim to a big run early in the second stanza to leave the Queen City with a split of its two high-profile contests.
 
Matthew Solomon led TCNJ with 17 points and eight rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting, and Nick Koch added 16 points and five assists.
 
Emory (7-1), an Elite Eight team a year ago and a top-10 offense in the nation at over 93 points per game, never trailed, but the Lions didn't make it easy for them in the first half. Much of that was due to Solomon, who had six points – including another dunk – in the first six minutes and change.
 
The Lions stayed within single digits the entire first half, getting within 26-21 on a 3-pointer by Mason Mangione with 5:05 to go. A pair of three-point plays from Jonathan Okocha and Koch over the remainder of the period got the blue and gold as close as 33-29 before the Eagles clawed out the last four points of the frame to grab a 37-29 lead at the break.
 
TCNJ was unable to keep up after intermission, however, as Emory started on a 17-4 run to expand its lead out to 54-34 with 14:29 remaining. The Lions never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 34.7 percent from the field (26-for-75), 28.6 percent from 3-point range (8-for-28), and 81.8 percent at the free-throw line (9-for-11)
• Emory shot 48.7 percent from the field (38-for-78), 27.6 percent from 3-point range (8-for-29), and 61.1 percent at the free-throw line (11-for-18)
• Emory controlled the glass to the tune of a 57-36 advantage in rebounds, using 18 offensive rebounds to put up 24 second-chance points
• The Eagles, in the top-5 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio, dished out 19 assists to 10 turnovers
• TCNJ turned it over just seven times

FOR THE FOES

• Ben Pearce led all scorers with 26 points and added eight assists
• Jair Knight finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists
• Mario Awasum had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds

STANDOUT LIONS

• Solomon was 7-for-13 from the field and 3-of-4 at the line
• Koch, who went off for 33 points in Friday's win over Denison, was 6-of-19 from the field
• Mangione finished 3-for-6 from 3-point range for a 9-point night
• Jordan Robinson had six points on 3-for-4 from the floor and had a team-high three steals
• Khalid Bakare matched Solomon for the team lead with eight boards

NOTES

• This was the first all-time meeting between the two programs
• Solomon officially passed Jimmy Glover '90 for fourth on the all-time rebounding list with 819 for his career
• The contest featured three of the top 11 active scoring leaders in Division III in Pearce (4th with 1,564 career points), Koch (9th with 1,434), and Knight (11th with 1,426); Pearce (3rd with 457) and Koch (9th with 320) are also among the top-10 in career assists
• Solomon is the active career leader in rebounds, where Knight is just outside the top-25
• Bakare surpassed 200 career rebounds

UP NEXT

• The Lions return to the court with an NJAC matchup at Rowan on January 7