EWING, N.J. - Nick Koch scored at least 30 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career to help lead the TCNJ men's basketball team to an all-important, 87-72 win over New Jersey City Saturday afternoon. The win is the fifth straight for the Lions, who honored their four graduating members; Shaun Johnson, Thomas Menyhert, Matthew Okorie and Jack Vreeswyk, prior to tip-off.
 
Koch's 32 points led all scorers by a wide margin, while Matthew Solomon secured his fourth double-double in the last five games with his 16-point, 13-rebound effort in a win that keeps TCNJ (19-5, 12-5) firmly in contention for a first round bye in the upcoming NJAC Tournament.
 
After an early triple from Johnson knotted things at five to start Saturday's contest, the Gothic Knights would go on a 9-2 run to take a 14-7 lead seven minutes into the opening half. There with a counter-punch, however, were the Lions, who turned a David Alexnadre jumper into a 9-0 run of their own to turn that seven-point deficit into a two-point lead at 16-14.
 
In what was a tightly contested half from that point on, the sides saw the score tied at 25, 29 and 31 before a 4-0 burst over the final 18 seconds courtesy of a pair of Koch steal-and-scores brought the junior's point total up to 19 and sent TCNJ into the half up 35-31.
 
The Lions' lead hovered between six and 10 points for much of the second half before a corner triple from Anthony Milligan kickstarted a 9-2 run that ballooned TCNJ's lead to 14 at 72-58 with 7:45 to go. The advantage never dipped below 10 the rest of the way in a half in which the Lions erupted for 52 points on 52.8% shooting, with TCNJ getting buckets from Koch, Solomon, Jonathan Okocha and Vreeswyk in the final 6:30 en route to the 87-72 victory.
 
FOR THE FOES

• Jaheim Lewis scored a team-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting for NJCU, adding six boards.
• Hakeem Wilson also eclipsed double figures with 14 points and a team-high three assists.

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch has now scored at least 30 points four times this season, including back-to-back games. His 32 points tonight – on an incredibly efficient 11-15 shooting – are his second-most of the year, with the junior adding five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
• After playing just under seven minutes in the first half, Solomon nearly tallied a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine boards in 14 second-half minutes.
• Matthew Okorie (9) and Okocha (9) narrowly missed out on double figures in scoring.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 47.6% from the field and 36% from deep while NJCU 46.8% overall and 35.7% from beyond the arc. The Lions held an 18-9 advantage in made free throws.
• Led by Solomon, TCNJ dominated the glass to the tune of a +15 rebounding margin.
• The Lions also held strong advantages in points off turnovers (21-9), second-chance points (20-8), bench points (35-22) and fastbreak points (18-8).

NOTES

• Koch moved into 19th on the Lions' all-time scoring list and currently sits at 1,099 for his career.
• With his 13 rebounds tonight, Solomon moved into sole possession of 6th among TCNJ's all-time rebounds leaders. The junior now totals 669 for his career.
• This is the second straight season the Lions have swept NJCU. TCNJ has now won each of the last five meetings dating back to 2022-23.

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Montclair State Wednesday, Feb. 19 to face off against the top-seeded Red Hawks in a battle for positioning in the upcoming NJAC Tournament. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.