By Joseph Caruso
Staff Writer
The College’s men's basketball team followed up a Greg Grant Tip-Off Tournament victory with two road wins against Ursinus College and William Paterson University, winning by 26 and 40 points, respectively.
On Saturday, Ursinus hosted the Lions at D.L. Helfferich Hall. The College took a 20-point lead into the halftime locker room and did not look back, besting the Bears 97-71. It was junior Nick Koch leading the way, getting right to his season average of 20 points. Sophomore David Alexandre had an extremely efficient 18, missing just one of his nine shot attempts.
Koch is following up his amazing 2023 season with even better numbers this year. After averaging 17 points per game and 5 assists per game as a sophomore, those numbers are up to 20 and seven, respectively.
“Nobody is perfect, and I understood what I can improve on from last season and worked on it to the best of my capability,” Koch said. “I’m already seeing a jump in my game.”
This momentum was carried into the first New Jersey Athletic Conference game of the season for the College when they traveled to William Paterson on Tuesday to take on the Pioneers.
William Paterson hung tight for the first half, keeping the deficit at single digits going into the locker room. However, The College blew the doors off after halftime, outscoring the Pioneers by 31 en route to a 40-point victory.
It was a very well-balanced attack, with five different Lions reaching double digits, with Koch leading the way with 17 points along with a team-high 6 assists. Senior Matthew Okorie had 16 points, and junior Jonathan Okocha chipped in 15 points.
The Lions have been dismantling opposing teams all season. Now with a perfect 6-0 record and ranked 15th on the D3hoops.com men's Top 25 for week 2, the College continues to move up the ladder. This is the first season they have been ranked since 2004-2005 when they started 11-1 and got as high as #12.
“The key to our undefeated start is what happens when no one is watching,” Koch added. “We treat every practice like it’s a championship practice which helps us for when it’s game time”
The College lost multiple key senior leaders going into the season, which just means other guys have had to step up.
“A lot of people thought we would slow down, but we are just getting started,” Koch said. “We are focused more on our principles with defending and running through our plays, and I would say with this start we are definitely succeeding on what we have to do, it just depends on if we can continue to do it.”
With six different Lions averaging more than nine points per game, it has been an all-hands-on-deck approach from the College.
“All players on the team, 1 [through] 18, push each other to become the best versions of ourselves, so whatever we see in the game we have already seen in practice,” Koch said.
The toughest test yet awaits the Lions, as the Ospreys of Stockton University travel to Packer Hall on Wednesday to try and end the College’s undefeated streak.
