DANBURY, Conn. - The Western Connecticut State University Wolves were held off by the visiting College of New Jersey Lions in the first game of the Hat City Men's Basketball Classic at Feldman Arena this afternoon.  WestConn, playing for the first time in 12 days, falls to 9-2 with its first loss in nine games.  TCNJ improves to 9-3 and will face Vassar College tomorrow at 1 p.m. in game 2 of the three-team, three-day event.  The Wolves, which received 16 points off the bench from junior forward Jourdan Belcher (Elmsford, N.Y.), will play the Vassar Brewers on Saturday, December 30 at 3 p.m. in the final game of the Classic.

WestConn jumped out to leads of 8-0 and 13-2 early, forcing four turnovers in the first 3:10, but the Lions settled down and clawed their way back with an 8-0 run to take their first lead at 24-23 on two free throws by Nick Koch.  A Koch jumper gave TCNJ a 38-34 lead with 37 seconds left in the first half, but Wolves junior forward Cameron Gallon (York, Pa.) made a free throw with 20 ticks on the clock to make it 38-35 at the break.  The Lions kept their lead through the first half of the second frame before WestConn tied the score at 57-57 on a three-pointer from the right wing by junior Keeshawn Jones (Middletown, N.Y.) with 10:31 remaining that also ignited a 13-2 spurt for the home squad.  Jones converted on an old-fashioned three-point play and Belcher answered a Koch bucket with a long ball to make the score, 73-65, in WestConn's favor with 3:42 on the clock.  The Lions scored the next 11 points however, taking a 74-73 lead on a layup by David Alexandre and leading, 76-73, at the one-minute mark.  Belcher scored on a put-back with 48 seconds left, but the Wolves misfired on a two three-pointers while Koch and Alexandre went 4-for-4 at the foul line down the stretch to seal the win for the visitors.

Belcher finished 6-for-8 from the floor and made both of his three-point and free-throw attempts, while also grabbing four rebounds and blocking two shots.  Jaheim Young (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Gallon each added 14 points and both Jones and junior guard Jeremiah Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 10 points for the Wolves' balanced offense.  Gallon paced WestConn on the boards with seven rebounds to go with four steals and Alfonso Stokes (Bloomfield, Conn.) dished a team-high five assists.  The Wolves were solid from deep with eight makes in 17 tries from beyond the arc.  Koch and Alexandre each had 19 points for the Lions, while Matthew Solomon totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Kock also had six assists.  The Lions had 20 second-chance points and made all 18 of their shots from the foul line.