EWING, N.J. – Matthew Solomon etched his name deeper into TCNJ lore on Saturday, eclipsing 1,000 career points in a vintage double-double performance during the men's basketball team's convincing 87-59 rout of Rutgers-Newark inside Packer Hall.
 
The senior standout became the 27^th player in program history to go over 1,000 points with a trademark baby hook early in the first half, two of his 17 points on the day as the Lions (10-4, 5-2) won for the fifth time in six home games this season. Solomon also grabbed 10 rebounds, the first of which sent him all alone into third on the program's all-time charts.
 
With TCNJ roaring out to an 8-0 lead after the opening three minutes, all eyes turned to Solomon's pursuit of history. Needing just five points to reach the milestone, the big man hit his first three shots, the last a short jump hook in the lane to make it official.
 
With that taken care of, the Lions turned their attention to dominating a Scarlet Raiders squad that remains winless in the NJAC. Solomon's hook were just the first two points of an extended 12-0 run that covered more than five minutes and put the visitors in a 24-7 hole.
 
Anthony Milligan's 3-pointer capped another burst, a 9-0 surge that made it 33-12 at the 5:54 mark, and the Lions took a 43-27 advantage into halftime.
 
Solomon started the second half with a tip-in preceding a Jonathan Okocha 3-pointer, and the blue and gold put the game away with an 11-2 spurt that featured a Solomon slam and ended with a 59-31 lead at the 13:44 mark of the second stanza.
 
TCNJ led by as many as 36 (77-41) on another Milligan triple, and the margin did not dip below 30 until the final 90 seconds.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot a sizzling 54.1 percent from the field (33-for-61), and the Lions were 10-of-32 from 3-point range (31.3 percent)
• Newark managed just 37.5 percent from the floor (24-for-64) and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-13)
• TCNJ owned the interior, outrebounding the Scarlet Raiders 47-32 and posting a 42-26 advantage in points in the paint
• The Lions handed out 18 assists to just 10 turnovers

FOR THE FOES

• Will Ndio (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Raheem Murray (13 points, 7 rebounds) led the way, with Ayden Brown (12) and Zakhai Sylvester (10) also cracking double digits

STANDOUT LIONS

• Nick Koch went 8-of-14 from the field, leading all scorers with 23 points and adding a game-high seven assists
• Solomon was an efficient 7-for-9 from the floor
• David Alexandre finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting
• Khalid Bakare paired six points with six boards, with Mason Mangione and Milligan each scoring six points on a pair of 3-pointers
• Nick Seeloch had a career-high five points and grabbed two rebounds in four minutes off the bench
• Jaydis McFadden registered his first career points on a late field goal

NOTES

• Solomon passed Bobby Brackett '17 for third on the all-time rebounding list; his 846 career boards are the most of any active Division III player
• Koch passed Skip Johnson (1963-67) for 7th on the all-time scoring list with 1,475 career points
• Okocha needs one more 3-pointer to hit 100 for his career
• TCNJ has won four in a row over Newark, the team's second-longest winning streak in the history of the series

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to No. 10 Montclair State for a huge NJAC showdown on Wednesday