One of the strongest attributes of The College of New Jersey men’s basketball team has been its ability to hit a bump in the road and quickly smooth things out.
TCNJ (14-6, 8-5 NJAC) has lost the last two and has another difficult one on tap Wednesday when Kean (10-10, 7-6 NJAC) invades Packer Hall for a 7 p.m. start in a key New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup.
There are eight teams battling for the six NJAC playoffs spots, and although the Lions have pretty much clinched a berth they would like to finish strong and claim the regular-season title.
The key, though, will begin with a solid game against Kean after falling to Rowan and Montclair State. The last time the Lions dropped a pair of games they rebounded with a four-game winning streak.
“I have to believe we will get back on track this week,’’ said coach Matt Goldsmith. “The beauty of this team is that our effort is always there. We just need to clean up some fundamentals and get back to who we are.’’
The Lions have been a very resilient team with a strong mixture of veterans, youth and a fairly deep bench.
Kean has won its last two games and owns an early season, 68-66, win over the Lions in December.
“We did not execute as well as we could have down the stretch against Kean,’’ said Goldsmith. “We also came out very slowly that night. We need to be ready to go from the tip.’’
The Lions rely on sophomore Nick Koch’s 16.1 points and 83 assists, sophomore Matt Solomon with a 12.1 scoring average and 9.9 rebounds, fifth-year Jason Larranaga and junior Matthew Okorie each average 11.0 points a game.
Fifth-year James Beckwith, senior Jack Vreeswyk, freshman David Alexandre and junior Anthony Milligan have been solid for the as starters and coming off the bench.
Montclair State might have gotten the best of TCNJ, but it wasn’t without a career day from Milligan, with 16 points in 16 minutes.
“Anthony was fantastic,’’ praised Goldsmith. “I was so happy for him. Unfortunately, towards the end of the game, he suffered an ankle injury. I am hoping he can get back quickly because he was a joy to watch on Saturday. He has worked his tail off to get where he is today.’’
Should he be able to go, Milligan will be an added plus against the Cougars.
Junior DJ Alicea leads Kean with 13.1 points, junior Bandon Upshaw averages 11.8 and fifth-year Marlo Gunn grabs 7.0 rebounds a game.
The Lions have William Paterson on Saturday and close the regular season out with Stockton, Ramapo and Rutgers-Newark
“I want to be playing our best basketball over the next 4-6 weeks,’’ said Goldsmith. “That is the goal. Can we peak at the right time?”The climb to the peak begins on Wednesday.