EWING, N.J. - Matthew Solomon completed his climb to the top of the record books. Now he and his teammates have one last hurdle to clear.

Solomon scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to become the program's all-time leader as the second-seeded TCNJ men's basketball team booked its spot in the NJAC championship game with a 76-66 victory over third-seeded Stockton on Wednesday night.

The Lions (20-6) will go for their second conference crown in three seasons on Saturday at top-seeded Montclair State, an 89-75 winner over Rowan. 

Nick Koch scored a team-high 22 points, David Alexandre (14 points) and Jonathan Okocha (13) joined him in double figures, and Khalid Bakare pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points. But this night belonged to Solomon.

The multi-year captain typically shirks the spotlight, but all eyes were on him as he closed in on Don Nolan's 43-year-old record. He corralled eight boards in the first half and needed less than five minutes to get to a dozen, equaling Nolan's longtime mark of 998. For a seeming eternity - in reality just over seven minutes - Solomon waited to take over the top spot, but he did just that and more in the blink of an eye.

The senior seized the record all for himself with 8:14 to play, then became the only active player in all of Division III with 1,000 career rebounds on the very next possession. Fittingly, it all coincided with the game-breaking run. 

The big blow came right alongside Solomon's record-breaking boards. The senior pulled down his historic 999th carom to set up a Koch floater, then became the first player in program history with 1,000 boards on the very next possession. Catching the milestone board, the big man kicked ahead to start a transition break that ended with a dagger 3-pointer from Okocha that made it 65-52 with 7:44 left.

The Ospreys, however, came clawing back from a 67-55 hole with back-to-back 3-pointers, the second a 4-point play from Andrew Crawford that trimmed a 13-point deficit down to six, 67-61, in the span of two possessions. 

The lead remained at six at the 2-minute mark, when Solomon muscled his way for a basket plus the foul for a 72-64. After a Stockton basket, Koch made two at the line to restore an 8-point advantage, 74-66, with 1:17 to go. Okocha's steal on the other end effectively sealed it, booking another trip to the NJAC title game.

The first half was a feeling-out process, a see-saw struggle in which neither side ever led by more than four and the lead switched hands a dozen times.

TCNJ twice trailed by three in the opening frame, the last at 13-10 before Jonathan Okocha splashed a corner 3-pointer and Koch somehow got a circus flip shot to fall for a 15-13 lead. 

The Lions went ahead again at 17-16 on Jordan Robinson's alley-oop lob to Solomon just past the midway point of the period, but a multi-possession advantage continued to elude the evenly matched foes until late in the stanza. Solomon rattled in a right-handed hook shot to give TCNJ a 29-28 edge, and David Alexandre swished a right-wing triple to extend it to 32-28 - matching the largest of the half - with 19 seconds left before the Ospreys beat the buzzer on the other end to halve the margin at 32-30.

Stockon inched in front with two quick baskets out of the break, only for the Lions to counter with a 7-0 run featuring a handful of rebounds and two free throws by Solomon as well as a Koch blow-by for a 39-34 lead and an Ospreys timeout at the 16:18 mark. 

The visitors stopped the bleeding with a 3 out of the stoppage, but Koch drove the baseline and kicked out to Okocha for a corner 3 and then hit a pair of free throws to make it 44-37. 

Stockton chipped away and got within 50-48, but misfired on a go-ahead 3-pointer before Okocha connected on another corner trey on an assist from Koch to restore some breathing room at the 11:30 mark.

The Lions started to gain some separation from there, with Koch scoring on a hesitation lay-in and Alexandre backing down his defender for an easy bucket and a 57-48 advantage. 

Soon, Solomon would have the record - and the Lions' dreams of an NJAC championship were one step closer to being realized. 

Next up: a rematch with No. 6 Montclair State, sure to be out for revenge after the Lions ended its bid for an unbeaten regular season last week. Another victory over the Red Hawks, and the blue and gold will be going dancing. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stockton shot just 38.7 percent from the field (24-of-62) and 28.0 percent from 3-point range (7-for-25)
• TCNJ finished at 46.7 percent from the floor (28-for-60) and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-22)
• Stockton outrebounded TCNJ, 40-38, but the Lions owned the paint to the tune of a 40-26 points advantage
• TCNJ committed just 8 turnovers - only 2 after halftime - while the Ospreys coughed it up 11 times

• Justin Harper led all scorers with 27 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists
• Tayvon Gaither had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards
• Charlie Bell IV and Crawford scored nine apiece

• Koch was 8-of-20 from the floor
• Solomon and Alexandre were each 6-for-10 from the field
• Okocha made four 3-pointers
• Bakare made 3 of his 4 shot attempts and had three offensive rebounds

• TCNJ secured its third straight 20-win season, the first such stretch for the program since the 1987-88 through 1989-90 campaigns
• The Lions last made the NJAC final in 2024, defeating Stockton on the road