MONTCLAIR — The pictures had been taken. The nets had been cut. The lights had been turned out inside the Panzer Athletic Center to shoo the last remaining stragglers out of the building. There stood David Alexandre still trying to process what had happened over the 40 frenetic minutes of champion ship basketball that had just transpired. “I’m trying to take it all in,” TCNJ’s junior guard said. For good reason, too. Thrust into the brightest of spotlights, with a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line, Alexandre delivered the best performance of his life. He scored a career-high 24 points, including 18 over a dizzying final ten-and-a-half minutes, most of which the Lions played without star guard Nick Koch, and capped it all off by slipping a pass to Matthew Solomon for the game-winning dunk. The final score on Saturday: TCNJ 83, Montclair State 81. “To be honest with you,” Alexandre said, “I don’t even remember the last 10 minutes. “I was just out there trying to make the best play for my team to win. I was doing it for the guys.” Here's how that crazy ending looked in the @NJACSports men's basketball title game! @TCNJMBB knocked off Montclair State 83-81 to claim the conference's automatic bid, and burst someone's bubble in the process. #d3hoops #d3dunks pic.twitter.com/lfrhpGWX8A — D3hoops/Patrick Coleman (@d3hoops) February 28, 2026 This victory, one that sends the Lions (21-6) to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, may go down as the most memorable of the program’s six NJAC championships. TCNJ had to win or its bubble would have been popped. Montclair, which had been ranked No. 1 in the country and undefeated before the regular-season finale between these two, landed an early haymaker when it made its first five shots, all 3s, and then proceeded to lead for over 32 of the game’s 40 minutes. Koch, the NJAC’s leading scorer and catalyst for so many big wins over the last three seasons, got into foul trouble. He went to the bench with 10:22 remaining after his fourth, sat for over six minutes and then fouled out with 3:43 to go. The Red Hawks (25-2) thought they drove the dagger in when Trenton native Kabrien Goss splashed a 3-ball for a 79-72 lead with 2:59 remaining. “Our mantra is toughness wins,” first-year coach Evan Elberg said. “No matter how much we’re down, how much we’re up, we’re never out of the fight. We dig in and we scratch and claw. That’s what we are going to stand on every night.” There was Alexandre to bank in a 3, then freshman Lucas Dipasupil on a run out, and Alexandre to tie it not once but twice after Goss (18 points) had put Montclair back in front. Tied at 81-all, TCNJ got a stop with 34 seconds on the clock. Alexandre drove into the lane, Goss went for the steal, nearly got it as Alexandre tumbled to the hardwood yet somehow slipped a pass to a cutting Solomon. Slam dunk. “I kind of blacked out,” said Solomon, who had a monster 22-point, 17-rebound performance. “The next thing I know I had the ball in my hands and I was putting it in the rim. It all kind of happened fast. An amazing play by David. He’s a stud. A spinning pass through two people.” The Lions held on once Goss missed a reverse at the rim and Solomon blocked NJAC Player of the Year Jacob Morales’ last-ditch 3-pointer. “It felt like 30 seconds,” Alexandre said in describing the final defensive stand. “When Goss shot it and missed, I thought it was game and I looked up and there were another two seconds! I’m like ‘Get the ball!’” Only able to watch with heart in mouth, Koch was every bit elated and relieved at the final buzzer. “It’s basketball and it’s unpredictable,” said Koch, who ended up with 14 points. “At the end of the day, I know my teammates got me and I got my teammates. That didn’t really change my mindset. I still wanted to win that game and my teammates got it done for me.” The highest praise he reserved for Alexandre. “All the work he’s put in with the unseen hours, early mornings, late nights. That doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Koch said. “I know who David Alexandre is, and he’s a dog.” TCNJ will find out its NCAA Tournament destination during Monday’s selection show. Whomever draws the Lions will know one thing for sure: this is no easy out. “We’re just so connected,” Solomon said. “We’re best friends, we hang out all the time and connectivity gets us a long way. We always say toughness travels, defense travels and connectivity travels.” ...read more read less