Rutgers-Camden

Next Game:

at Rutgers-Camden

12/10/2025 | 8:00 P.M.


Dec. 10 (Wed) / 8:00 P.M.


at Rutgers-Camden

History

EWING, N.J. – The 19th-ranked TCNJ men’s basketball team hosted Kean in a hard-fought NJAC battle Saturday afternoon, building a 31-25 advantage at the half before falling 68-64 in front of the home crowd.
 
Matthew Solomon did it all for the Lions despite the loss, pouring in a career-high 24 points to pair with team-high marks in both rebounds (10) and assists (4). The senior was the lone TCNJ student-athlete to play more than 25 minutes in a game that quickly turned into one dictated by the foul count, with Solomon himself bowing out due to foul trouble in the game’s final seconds.
 
After the Cougars (5-3, 3-0) got off to a 4-0 start in Saturday’s contest, it was Solomon stroking his first of his three triples to open the scoring for the Lions (5-3, 1-2). Neither side was able to separate itself over the ensuing 13 minutes before a 5-0 run courtesy of TCNJ’s Mason Mangione and Lucas Dipasupil gave the Lions their largest lead at 29-22 with 3:30 to go.
 
Kean responded with three quick points of its own, but it was Mangione striking again, with the first-year’s jumper at the 1:09 mark serving as the final bucket of the opening half and sending TCNJ into the break up 31-25.
 
Of note, the Lions did much of their damage in the first half without their starting backcourt of Nick Koch and David Alexandre, who were held to just over six and seven minutes respectively due to early foul trouble. It was thanks in large part to the play of Mangione, Dipasupil and Connor Howard, the latter of which was a team-best +7 in his five minutes of play, alongside the big man that TCNJ carried a lead into halftime.
 
The Lions continued to build on their advantage early in the second half thanks to the play of Daniel Yarus and Solomon, with the duo combining to score eight of TCNJ’s first 10 points to balloon the lead to 14 at 41-27. The Cougars responded to the tune of a 14-2 run of their own to trim the lead back to two, but it was Solomon hitting another timely three following a Koch lay-in to push the lead back to seven with just over 10 minutes on the clock.
 
A second big run by the visitors – this time a 13-2 run that spanned the next four minutes – was too much to overcome, however, with Kean taking a 51-50 lead at the 7:19 mark it would hold the rest of the way en route to handing the Lions the 68-64 loss.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE


TCNJ shot 44.2 percent (23-52) from the field but was just 5-for-25 from deep.
The Cougars shot 46.9 percent (23-39) from the floor and were 1-for-11 from three, but went 75 percent (21-28) at the free throw line.
The Lions held a 32-30 advantage on the glass, finishing with a 10-4 edge in second chance points.
TCNJ’s bench outscored Kean’s 17-6 in the game, paced by Mangione’s six.

STANDOUT LIONS


Solomon led the way in points (24), rebounds (10) and assists (4) while accounting for more than half (3) of the Lions’ five made threes.

FOR THE FOES


Daniel Dextraze also finished with a double-double, tallying game-high marks in both points (25) and rebounds (11).
Malachi Jeffers-Viera (16) and Phil Brown Jr. (11) also scored in double figures, with the trio going a combined 16-for-18 at the charity stripe.

NOTES


Solomon’s double-double is the 30th of his career.
Koch is now two assists away from becoming 3rd player in program history to reach 300 for his career.
Alexandre reached 200 assists for his career with a pair on Saturday.
Koch saw his streak of games scoring in double figures end at 19.

UP NEXT


The Lions are on the road Wednesday, Dec. 10 to take on Rutgers-Camden, with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.