2016 Southern Conference Basketball Championship presented by General Shale
 
No. 1 Chattanooga 73, No. 2 ETSU 67
March 7, 2016
 
Chattanooga Mocs
Coach Matt McCall
Opening statement
"I couldn't be prouder of this group. I told them in the locker room after the game that I love each and every one of them like I love my own two daughters. I feel so fortunate for the opportunity that I've been blessed with to be around these guys every single day and coach them, teach them and mentor them. They deserve this because a lot of time things happen during coaching change and turnover. Guys go their own way. I remember the first time I walked into the meeting room and they were all kind of looking at me like I was funny, like, "Who's this guy?" Just a punk kid from Gainesville, Florida. The relationships that we've been able to build in the last 11 months are going to last a lifetime. They deserve this because it would have been easy for each of them to go their separate ways. They didn't do that. They bought in from day one. I'm so proud of them. I'm so happy for them because everything that's happened, the success we've had this year, is because of their togetherness and connectedness. We can run the best plays in the world or run the best schemes in the world but if they weren't as close-knit as they were, it would be hard to the amount of success we've had. I'm proud of them. It's because of that that we've won. The deserve what they get."
 
Chattanooga junior guard Greg Pryor
On if he has grown as a player over the last three games
"I feel like I've grown as a player throughout these games. I learned from mistakes and watched film on my mistakes that I made. The things I did well, I focused in on those things."
 
Chattanooga senior guard Eric Robertson
On winning the SoCon title
"It's an awesome feeling to get where we've gotten. The past three years, we've lost our first game in the conference tournament. Going out my senior year, all the summer workouts and offseason workouts, they feel like they've finally paid off. It's an awesome feeling."
 
On if he was tired of hearing about losing in the first round of the tournament three years in a row
"Honestly, not really. As a player, you can't really focus on those things. You just kind of block them out. Fans like to say a lot of stuff. Statistical guys like to say a lot of stuff. As a player, you just have to block it all out. I wouldn't say I was tired of hearing it because I blocked out anything of that nature."
 
 
ETSU Buccaneers
Coach Steve Forbes
Opening statement
"Chattanooga really came at us tonight. You have to give them credit. They really took us out of our offense. We were really dysfunctional on offense to start the game. We didn't get good shots and it wasn't indicative of our team throughout the year. We just looked disjointed on offense and couldn't get anything going. They made some shots, but in the second half, we got it going. The offense was in front of our bench and that probably helped a little bit, but I really felt like we locked down defensively. I mean, we held them to 40 percent from the field [for the game], and that's pretty darn good."
 
"[Chattanooga head coach] Matt [McCall] has done an unbelievable job with that team, and they're going to represent our league well in the NCAA tournament. I think they're going to win a game or two; they're that good."
 
"We got slotted at the free-throw line. They shot 70-something free throws against us combined in the first two games we played them. They shot 31 tonight and we shot 13. There's no way we can win that way. You have to give them all the credit for attacking the basket and being aggressive, and I guess we just didn't do that."
 
On his second-half technical
"I lost my composure. I told the team that after the game. I took the blame for the loss because that was a bad technical at a bad time in the game and that's not characteristic of me. I lost my composure. I obviously thought that was a foul and the referee didn't feel that way and it went against us, but I can't lose my composure there, especially that deep in the game. That's my fault."
 
On second-half run
"When those shots started falling and we made that run, that's how I thought we were going to play the entire game. I knew that we just had to put some pressure on them. We didn't put any pressure on them in the first half. They kept us at bay – nine, 10, eight – we never could get over it. Once we got going, I knew we could make it a tight game."
 
"They had us really spread out, but that's how they play: deny, deny, deny. They have length, so you have to drive the ball. We weren't getting anything in the post, so our guards were going to have to make plays at the basket and they did. If we had gotten over that hump, I think they would have tightened up a little bit. The pressure's on them since they're the No. 1 seed. I would think that it would've made it a little tougher, those shots might not have fallen. They were missing shots. Their shooting percentage in the second half wasn't very good. They did make a couple of timely 3s. Tre' McLean made a deep dagger 3, and he's just been doing that to us all year. He's a helluva player."
 
On the matchup with Chattanooga
"We don't really match up with them very well. Their length bothers us, but we had our chances. They didn't run away from us. We were right there knocking on the door. We just struggled, and I take the blame for that."
On postseason play
"There are still options for us to keep playing. I'm a little new to this, because I'm used to playing in the NCAA tournament. There's the NIT, which is a tough tournament to get into because the teams that won the regular-season conference championship may not have won their tournaments and those are the automatic qualifiers. Then, there's the CIT and the CBI and a Las Vegas tournament now, so I have a lot of faith in our administration to help me make a decision on what we're doing. We're going to play. We deserve to play. We're 23-11 and we have nothing to hang our heads about. We fought hard to the end. These kids deserve to play again, especially these four seniors."
 
Senior guard Ge'Lawn Guyn
On losing in the championship game
"This is very tough. I just want to thank coach Forbes and the rest of our coaching staff. I'm still proud to be a Buc. This is very emotional, being a senior and losing in the championship like this, but I'm just thankful to be here. We played hard and we didn't give up and I can live with that."