MONTCLAIR, N.J. - The TCNJ men's basketball team saw its bid for second consecutive cinderella run in the NJAC Tournament fall short at the hands of top-seeded Montclair State Tuesday night, dropping an 80-62 game to the Red Hawks in the conference semifinal.
 
Three players got into double figures in scoring for the Lions (20-7, 12-6 NJAC) in Nick Koch (21), Matthew Okorie (16) and David Alexandre (10). Okorie also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds while Koch dished out four assists in the loss.
 
A 9-4 run by the hosts to open the game was met with a 12-2 response by TCNJ that gave the Lions a 16-11 lead seven minutes in. Okorie got the run started with a lay-in before Koch scored six of the next 10 points en route to taking the early five-point advantage. That lead was short-lived, however, as a 6-0 burst by Montclair State (20-6, 14-4 NJAC) put the Red Hawks back up 17-16. 
 
TCNJ used a pair of miniature runs to take back its five-point lead on two separate occasions – one coming off a Koch freebie and another on a layup by the junior – before Montclair State closed out the first half on a 7-2 run to send both sides into the break knotted at 36.
 
Okorie and Alexandre battled to keep the Lions close for much of the second half before a personal 4-0 run from Koch cut a double-digit deficit to six with 5:23 to go. That is as close as TCNJ would get in a half in which the Lions shot just 38%, however, with the Red Hawks outscoring them 18-6 over the final five minutes to hand TCNJ the 80-62 loss.

FOR THE FOES

• Jacob Morales was unstoppable in the win, torching the Lions for 30 points on 12-13 shooting from the field and 5-6 from deep.
• Kieran Flanagan registered his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 assists.
• Mike Jackson also reached double figures with 13 points to pair with five rebounds.

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch finished with 21 points, three rebounds and four assists, going 5-7 from the field and 10-13 from the free throw line.
• Okorie was an efficient 7-12 from the floor en route to his 16 points.
• Jack Vreeswyk added a game-high four steals off the bench to pair with his seven points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 43.4% (23-53) from the field and just 14.3% (2-14) from beyond the arc. The Lions' two triples are their fewest this season.
• Montclair State shot 55.6% (30-54) overall – tied for the Red Hawk's second-best mark on the season – and 41.7% (10-24) from deep.
• TCNJ held narrow advantages in points off turnovers (20-19) and bench points (9-8) while Montclair State finished one-point better in second-chance points (5-4).
• The teams ended the game tied in points in the paint (38-38).
• The Red Hawks finished with a 22-11 advantage in fastbreak points.

NOTES

• Koch moved up two spots on TCNJ's all-time scoring list and now sits in 16th with 1,170.
• Vreeswyk sank his 100th career triple in the loss.

UP NEXT

• The Lions, who are 28th in the latest NPI rankings, will find out their NCAA Tournament destination during the NCAA selection show at 1 p.m. Monday. Per D3datacast.com, TCNJ is a lock to earn a Pool C bid.