EWING, N.J. – Nick said 'Night, Night.'
 
With time winding down and the TCNJ men's basketball team's last chance slipping away, Nick Koch stepped back and swished home a 25-foot 3-pointer as the final buzzer sounded on an 84-82 double-overtime victory over Stockton in an NJAC instant classic on Wednesday night.
 
Koch's buzzer-beating heave represented the 15^th and final lead change in an epic battle between two contenders that came into the night tied for second in the league standings. When the dust settled, and the Packer Hall court had been stormed, it was the blue and gold standing all alone in the No. 2 slot – and the Ospreys left ruing a season sweep that slipped through their claws.
 
Koch's career-high sixth trey of the night gave him a game-high 33 points in 49 minutes, while senior counterpart Matthew Solomon racked up 24 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists while playing all 3,000 seconds of an unforgettable battle royale.
 
The Ospreys (11-8, 8-4) broke a 76-76 deadlock on Justin Harper's four-point play with 1:46 remaining in double overtime, but Koch came right back with a driving lay-in and David Alexandre brought on the 17^th tie of the night with a jumper in the paint.
 
First-year Mason Mangione made a huge play on the ensuing possession, snatching a would-be Osprey lay-up out of the air and coming down with the ball while being fouled. The rookie made one of two free throws to put TCNJ on top, 81-80, with 19 seconds left, but Eriq Campbell came right back with a twisting lay-up of his own to give Stockton the lead right back. Then came Koch's dagger, but that was hardly the only dramatic end to a period.
 
The first came in the closing moments of regulation. Like the last possession of double-OT, TCNJ had the ball down one with the clock ticking toward zeroes, and Solomon had the ball in a precarious position. Posted up outside the paint on the left side, the senior rose up for a turnaround that bounced off the rim, but a foul was called on the shot with 0.8 seconds showing. Solomon calmly swished the first to tie the game, but his would-be winner was too strong, and the teams went to the extra session.
 
After Charlie Bell IV gave Stockton a 72-70 lead with 30 seconds left, Koch came up clutch again with a tough left-handed lay-up with 8 ticks remaining, and Andrew Crawford's long pull-up was well off the mark with double-OT – and Koch's ultimate heroics - looming.
 
Koch and Solomon were two of four Lions to play 40-plus minutes, joining fellow starters David Alexandre (42) and Jonathan Okocha (41). Alexandre, who scored 13 points, combined with Koch and Solomon to form a trio that accounted for 72 of the home side's 84 points.
 
The Lions used their defensive prowess to stymie Stockton into a 7-minute scoring drought bridging the halftime break, leading by as many as seven points twice. But in a game in which neither side ever led by more than that number, there were twists and turns aplenty to come.
 
Stockton made its first seven shots of the second stanza and used a 7-0 run to nose in front, 46-42, with 12:31 remaining. The Lions responded with their own 7-0 burst featuring a 3-pointer by Solomon, who answered a tying trey by the Ospreys with another long ball to make it 52-49. The Lions threatened to pull away when Lucas Dipasupil doubled the lead with a 3 of his own, and still led 61-57 with under five minutes to go before Harper's first four-point play tied it and served as the first half of an 8-0 run that put the Stockton in the driver's seat with a 65-61 advantage.
 
Okocha, however, nailed a 3 out of a timeout and Solomon hit Anthony Milligan on a back-door cut for a brief 66-65 lead before Tayvon Gaither's go-ahead jumper with 1:30 to go. That was the last basket of regulation – and the drama was only just unfolding.
 
Koch, Solomon, and Alexandre accounted for every TCNJ point in a back-and-forth first half dotted with six ties and five lead changes. After Koch's third 3-pointer of the period gave the Lions a 16-12 lead at the 12:52 mark, the Ospreys embarked on an extended 9-0 run to grab their biggest lead of the night at 21-16, a margin they matched again at 26-21 with 4:46 to go.
 
Back came TCNJ, fueled by defense and the long ball. Koch's next triple tied things up at 26-26, and Solomon gave the blue and gold a lead on a layup to beat the shot clock on a beautiful pass from Okocha. Koch dropped in a fifth deep ball and a driving lay-up for good measure, closing out the half on a 12-0 run and sending the pride into the locker room with a 33-26 advantage after holding Stockton off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes. That was only the appetizer to an unforgettable main course.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 38.0 percent from the field (30-for-79), 33.3 percent from behind the arc (15-for-45), and 64.3 percent at the free-throw line (9-for-14)
• Stockton shot 41.0 percent from the field (32-for-78), 34.5 percent from behind the arc (10-for-29), and 100.0 percent at the free-throw line (8-for-8)
• The Lions held Stockton to just 29.7 percent from the field (11-of-37) in the first half
• Stockton controlled the glass (56-41 rebounding advantage) and the paint (40-28), but committed twice as many turnovers as TCNJ (16 to 8)

FOR THE FOES

• Harper had a big double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds
• Gaither finished with 16 points
• Campbell pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds
• Crawford had five points and six assists to go with 10 boards

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch made all five of his 3-point attempts in the first half, setting a new career high even before his game-winner
• Solomon finished 9-of-16 from the field and added three steals to his latest double-double
• Alexandre was 5-for-9 from the floor and matched Solomon with three steals
• Milligan did not score in the first half but made his mark with seven big rebounds – already equaling his career high for a game – to keep the Lions apace on the glass
• Okocha was just 1-of-10 from the field, but grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists

NOTES

• On the night he was presented with a commemorative basketball memorializing his 1,500^th career point, Koch's game-winner gave him an even 1,600 for his career
• Solomon registered his third straight double-double and sixth in his last seven outings; he now has 36 for his career
• Alexandre now has exactly 700 career points
• TCNJ improved to 7-1 at home and ended a three-game losing streak against the Ospreys, who had taken seven of the previous nine overall meetings

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Ramapo on Saturday for a 1 p.m. NJAC tip