CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Junior forward Nicchaeus Doaks (Trenton, Tenn.) scored a game-high tying 20 points and collected a double-double with 10 rebounds and junior guard Stephen McDowell (Indianapolis, Ind.) notched 19 points as Chattanooga (3-3) rallied from multiple double-digit deficits to defeat East Tennessee State (2-3) Wednesday evening in a non-conference men's basketball game at The McKenzie Arena.
Down 40-27 at the half, Chattanooga opened the second half with a 17-6 run that narrowed the Buccaneer's lead to 46-44 over the first 7:15 before ETSU pushed their lead back to 56-49 with 10:09 to play. A 16-4 run over the next three minutes by the Mocs, fueled by 10 points from McDowell and capped off by a thundering dunk from junior Khalil Hartwell, gave Chattanooga their first lead of the night, 65-60, with 6:20 to play.
Despite several rallies by East Tennessee State, it was a lead that the Mocs would not relinquish the rest of the night. The Buccaneers would close to within 66-64 before a 5-0 run by UTC made the score 71-64 with 4:19 to play. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Dequan Twilley narrowed the margin to 71-67 at the 2:20 mark but that would not last long as Chattanooga notched a 4-0 run of their own to extend their lead to 75-67 with 1:48 to play.
A three-pointer by senior guard Travis Strong and two free throws by junior forward Kevin Tiggs made the score 75-72 but that would be as close as the Buccaneers would get as the Mocs salted the game away, hitting seven-of-eight free throws down the stretch for the 82-78, come-from-behind victory.
In the first half, East Tennessee State dominated the first seven minutes of play, racing out to a 17-5 lead before extending to a 24-10 advantage with 11:23 remaining in the half. Chattanooga then put together an impressive run of their own, outscoring the Buccaneers 13-2 to pull to within 26-23 at the 7:09 mark.
ETSU wasted little time in regaining their robust lead with 13 unanswered points over the next four minutes as they extended their advantage to 39-23 before closing out the half with the 40-27 lead.
Tiggs led the way for East Tennessee State with a game-high tying 20 points and added six rebounds while junior guard Courtney Pigram finished the evening with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. Strong contributed 12 points, hitting seven-of-nine foul shots, and senior forward Andrew Reed finished with 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds to round out the Buccaneers double-figure scorers.
Doaks led the way for the Mocs with his 20 points and 10 rebounds and also converted 10 of his 13 free throws while junior forward Kevin Goffney (Ethel, La.) added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds. Khalil Hartwell (Philadelphia, Pa.) posted a game-high 14 rebounds and finished the night with seven points.
As a team, Chattanooga finished the night shooting 70.5 percent from the foul line and outrebounded East Tennessee State by an impressive 56-33 margin that included 24 on the offensive glass.
The Mocs return to action when they kick off the Southern Conference portion of their schedule on Saturday, December 1 against The Citadel. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at The McKenzie Arena.
NOTES
With his 19 three-point attempts on the night, Stephen McDowell broke the Chattanooga record for most three-point attempts in one game ... Chattanooga trailed by as many as 16 points with that margin coming 39-23 with 3:05 to play in the first half ... After trailing at half 40-27, the Mocs outscored ETSU 55-38 in the second half.
