EWING TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team fell by an 82-65 final to The College of New Jersey in the title game of the Greg Grant Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday evening at Packer Hall.

Despite a career-high 32 points from Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J.), the Camels fell behind midway through the first half and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up. Dylan Watson (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) contributed 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds while Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.) added 12 points, two assists and two steals.

Matthew Okorie paced the Lions (4-0 overall) with 24 points and shot 8-for-11 from the floor.

The Camels led by as many as five in the early going, as three-pointers by Espinosa and RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.) provided a spark in the first three minutes. However, the Lions kept within striking distance and later used a 14-0 run to take control of the game.

Conn closed the gap with a 7-0 spurt in the final minutes of the half, but TCNJ took a 37-25 lead into the locker room at the break.  Espinosa had 13 points in the first half, though the Camels shot just 27 percent in the stanza.

Espinosa was a one-man wrecking crew in the early stages of the second half. The Camels cut into the deficit behind 15 straight points from the junior sharpshooter, a stretch that included a pair of three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play. By the 10:26 mark, Espinosa had helped trim TCNJ's 12-point lead down to six.

However, the Lions responded with a 6-0 flurry to bring the lead back to double digits, and in the final minutes they built the margin to as many as 19. TCNJ shot 61 percent in the second half and finished at 50 percent for the game. 

For his efforts, Espinosa earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. He was joined by Okorie, Matthew Solomon (TCNJ), Nick Koch (TCNJ) and Brandon Goldberg (Baruch).

Conn (1-1 overall) will next host Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m.