The road warriors picked off one last road kill – and picked up some shiny new hardware in the process.
The TCNJ men's basketball team rode a scorching shooting start to a 75-62 victory at Stockton in Saturday's NJAC championship, staving off a second-half charge from the hosts to claim their second conference crown in the last four years.
The fifth-seeded Lions became the first team seeded that low to win the NJAC championship, and consequently the first in the history of the conference tournament to pull off three consecutive road wins. Like in 2020, TCNJ earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will discover its first-round matchup and destination during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday afternoon.

FOR THE RECORD
The Lions improved to 20-8 overall, reaching 20 wins for just the second time since 1998
Stockton fell to 17-10 and is unlikely to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament

HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams alternated a trio of 3-pointers in a series of early lead changes before Matthew Solomon (6'7''-F) and Nick Koch (6'1''-G) scored on back-to-back inside buckets. After Matthew Okorie (6'7''-F) finished a lay-in on a bullet pass from Koch, TCNJ had grabbed an 11-6 lead and forced a Stockton timeout
Jason Larranaga (6'5''-G) pulled the trigger on a deep triple and Okorie drove for a bucket to extend the run to 11-0 and the advantage to 16-6 before the Ospreys ended a drought with a 3 of their own
Continuing the blazing start, Okorie and Larranaga connected on consecutive treys to grab a 22-9 lead seven minutes in
Stockton scored seven in a row to get within six, but David Alexandre (5'11''-PG) buried a step-back 3-pointer to key an answering 8-0 spurt – capped by a Koch 3 – to open up a 14-point margin at 30-16
DJ Campbell (6'3''-F) began to catch fire for Stockton, pulling the hosts to within 33-26, but back came TCNJ again as Koch fed Solomon for a lay-in and James Beckwith scored eight straight – with a pair of 3s – to open up a 43-26 lead at the 3-minute mark of the first half
The Ospreys made a late push, using a Campbell-led 9-0 run to cut the margin to single digits (45-37) at halftime
TCNJ started the second half much like the first, getting treys from Okorie and Beckwith and a transition take from Koch to bring the lead right back to 15 at 53-38. After another 6-0 mini-run from Stockton, Beckwith quieted the crowd with a right-wing 3 to push the lead back out to double digits (56-44)
The see-saw continued, the Lions going back up 15 (61-46) before Stockton's 11-0 run clipped the advantage to 61-57 with 10:20 to go
TCNJ got five consecutive stops to keep the Ospreys at bay but was unable to score itself, and Campbell's free throws made it a two-point game (61-59) with 6:43 to play
Koch ended a nearly seven-minute scoreless drought with a free throw, and Okorie scored plus the foul on a back-door pass from Solomon to give the Lions some breathing room at 65-59 with 5:15 left
After a Stockton 3, Koch drove the lane and made a circus shot through contact for a massive bucket and a 67-62 lead with 2:49 remaining
Exceptional ball movement led to an Okorie lay-up from Koch, and Koch followed a Stockton turnover with two free throws to make it 71-62 with just 1:20 to go. After another stop, Koch knocked down two more with 1:02 remaining, and the Ospreys' fate was all but sealed

FOR THE FOES
Campbell led all scorers with 23 points and EJ Matthews-Spratley added 13

STANDOUT LIONS
Koch was 6-for-11 from the field and finished with a team-high 20 points, also handing out seven assists
Okorie turned in yeoman's work with 19 points and nine boards
Beckwith went 5-for-6 from 3 en route to a 17-point night
Larranaga finished with eight points, and Solomon had six points and nine rebounds to go with three steals

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
TCNJ finished 12-of-21 from 3-point range and shot 46.6 percent overall (27-of-58). The Lions started out 9-of-11 from 3
The Lions' defense was elite, holding Stockton to 31.3 percent from the field (20-for-64) and forcing nine consecutive misses to start the second half

Courtesy of njacsports.com

NJAC Final: Stockton - TCNJ 62-75

NJAC Semifinals:
Rowan - TCNJ 73-79
Stockton - Montclair State 91-77

NJAC Quarterfinals:
Montclair State - Kean 90-79
Ramapo - TCNJ 74-81

Player of the Year: Ja'Zere Noel (6'6''-F) of Rowan
Defensive Co-Player of the Year: Levi Holton (6'0''-PG) of RU Newark
Defensive Co-Player of the Year: Khalif Meares (6'3''-G) of Rowan
Rookie of the Year: Tyler Spencer (6'5''-F) of Kean
Coach of the Year: Eric Brennan of Rowan

All-NJAC First Team 2024

Campbell

Gorman

Jackson

Meares

Noel

First Team
DJ Campbell (6'3''-F) of Stockton
Peter Gorman (6'0''-PG) of Ramapo
Mike Jackson (6'3''-G) of Montclair St.
Khalif Meares (6'3''-G) of Rowan
Ja'Zere Noel (6'6''-F) of Rowan

All-NJAC Second Team 2024

Downs

Gaither

Holton

Koch

Ross

Second Team
Cameron Downs (6'5''-F) of RU Camden
Tayvon Gaither (6'5''-F) of Stockton
Levi Holton (6'0''-PG) of RU Newark
Nick Koch (6'1''-G) of TCNJ
Marcellus Ross (6'3''-G) of Rowan

Honorable Mention
DJ Alicea (6'2''-G) of Kean
Kieran Flanagan (6'0''-PG) of Montclair St.
Matthew Solomon (6'7''-F) of TCNJ