ASHLAND, VA – Nick Koch drained a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play to lift 22
nd-ranked TCNJ to a 74-73 win over Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon. The Blue Jays end the season at 20-8 while the Lions improve to 22-6.
Hopkins led 69-61 with 4:55 to play, but a David Alexandre three-point play kick-started a game-ending run 13-4 Lions' run, punctuated by that Koch three-pointer to put TCNJ up 74-73.
Hopkins held a slim 4-3 lead early after
Wyatt Eglinton Manner and
Jeb Williams sandwiched baskets around a David Alexandre triple. Nick Koch then scored on a drive to the basket to spark a 20-9 run that spanned nearly eight-and-a-half minutes. The Lions went 10-of-14 from the field, fueled by six points from Koch and Anthony Milligan. Lucas Dipasupil capped the run with a pull-up jumper at 8:17 to put TCNJ up 23-13.
Eglinton Manner answered the Dipasupil bucket with a layup on the other end to ignite 20-6 half-ending run. Eglinton Manner tied the game at 26 with a three-pointer and then a
Tanti Felli layup put the Blue Jays on top with 1:48 to play in the half. After a Koch layup cut the lead to just one,
Nick Klaiber answered with one of his own. Jonathan Okocha then hit one of three free throws and after a Felli rebound on the last miss, he got two points in the paint to end the half and give Hopkins a 33-29 lead.
The teams went back-and-forth, trading scoring possessions over the opening 3:17 of the second and the Blue Jays led 42-38. The Lions then used a 5-2 spurt, fueled by Koch and Matthew Solomon to pull back within one with 13:39 on the clock. Back-to-back Eglinton Manner and
Charlie Jackson layups gave Hopkins a 48-43 lead, but TCNJ answered with five unanswered from Alexandre and the teams were knotted at 48 with 11:32 to play.
Felli converted an old-fashioned three-point play, followed by a
Logan Feller driving layup and just like the Blue Jays led 53-48. The teams went back to trading buckets and thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Feller and Klaiber, JHU pushed its lead to 69-61 at the 4:55-mark. Then Alexandre converted his three-point play to ignite that game-ending run for TCNJ.
Eglinton Manner finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds for his third 20-point double-double of the season. Felli scored 16 points, grabbed five boards and handed out a pair of assists. Feller also finished in double figures with 12 points while Jackson added seven rebounds and three assists. Koch led the Lions with 24 points while Alexandre scored 23, including going 3-of-4 from three-point. Solomon added 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
Notes: Eglinton Manner's 24 points are the most in an NCAA Tournament since
Carson James' 26 versus Hamilton on March 4, 2023 • Jackson finishes his career with 1,071 points and 523 rebounds to rank 16
th and 13
th respectively, in program history.
