NEWARK, N.J. – Nick Koch continued his relentless ascent up TCNJ Men's Basketball's all-time charts with one of the best performances of his career on Saturday night, racking up a career-high 38 points to power the Lions past Rutgers-Newark, 75-63 in Brick City.
 
Koch did much of his damage at the free-throw line, going a perfect 18-for-18 at the charity stripe to match Randall Walko's 18-of-19 effort in the 2020 NCAA Tournament for the most made freebies in a single game in over a decade. The senior superstar scored 19 points in each half and accounted for more than half of the Lions' points as the blue and gold extended their winning streak to seven games.
 
With the win, combined with a Stockton loss to Montclair State, TCNJ (17-5, 12-3) is now two games ahead of the Ospreys for the No. 2 seed and a bye in the upcoming NJAC Tournament.
 
Koch's explosion – and foul-drawing prowess – was much-needed on a night in which the Lions shot 35.7 percent overall and a frigid 4-for-24 from 3-point range. He got on the board just past the 16-minute mark, by which time the Lions had already opened up a quick 7-0 lead.
 
The Scarlet Raiders, however, embarked on an extended 19-2 run to put the visitors in a double-digit hole (22-11) inside of 10 minutes elapsed. Koch went wild from there, scoring nine straight points to get the Lions within 22-20.
 
Still trailing 33-32 late in the first half, TCNJ ended the frame on a 6-0 run as Koch bookended a Jordan Robinson tip-in with a lay-in of his own and an assist to Khalid Bakare.
 
That was as much danger as the Lions experienced for the rest of the night. Koch's jumper pushed the lead out to double digits for the first time at 46-36, and Lucas Dipasupil hit a lay-up and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give TCNJ a 53-39 lead with 11:24 remaining.
 
Newark got as close as 55-47, only for Daniel Yarus and Koch to get into the paint for consecutive buckets, the latter a three-point play that made it 60-47 with 8:07 to go. The Scarlet Raiders trimmed the lead down to eight twice more, but Koch – who scored the last 10 TCNJ points – responded with a bucket or free throws on both occasions as the Lions maintained enough distance for a double-digit road win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 35.7 percent overall (25-for-70) and just 16.7 percent from 3-point range (16.7 percent), but behind Koch the Lions were a terrific 21-of-23 (91.3 percent) at the line
• Newark shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60), including 7-of-23 from 3-point land (30.4 percent), and went 12-of-16 (75.0 percent) at the line
• TCNJ out-rebounded the Scarlet Raiders, 50-36, and held a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint

FOR THE FOES

• Zakhai Sylvester led Newark with 15 points
• Manny Rodriguez had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Adiel Fred finished with 10 points and seven boards

STANDOUT LIONS

• Koch was 10-of-19 from the field in addition to his perfect night at the stripe; he also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out three assists to a mere one turnover
• Matthew Solomon paired 13 points with 12 rebounds for yet another double-double
• Khalid Bakare supplemented Solomon with nine rebounds

NOTES

• Koch passed Scott Findlay '06 for 2^nd on the all-time scoring list with 1,695 career points; he now trails only TCNJ legend Greg Grant's mind-boggling 2,611 points
• Koch is now just six assists from passing Sean Covington '99 for 2^nd all-time (383)
• Koch's 18 free throws matched Walko for the most in a single game since Eric Murdock, Jr. made 20 in a 2015 contest
• Solomon has a double-double in seven straight games and 10 of his last 11, giving him 39 for his career
• Solomon is 14 rebounds from passing Findlay (966) for 2^nd in program history
• TCNJ has won five in a row over RU-Newark
• The Lions' 7-game streak is the longest since the 2019-20 team won nine in a row before losing in the 2^nd round of the NCAA Tournament, and it marks the longest regular-season run since the 2017-18 squad ran off nine in a row early in the season

UP NEXT

• The Lions host Rowan on Wednesday night