Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Junior guard Stephen McDowell (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored a team-high 22 points and junior forward Khalil Hartwell (Philadelphia, Pa.) pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and notched a double-double with 12 points as Chattanooga (3-3, 1-0) defeated The Citadel (3-3, 0-1) Saturday evening in a Southern Conference men's basketball game at The McKenzie Arena.
Leading 43-35 at half, Chattanooga used a 23-8 run over the first 8:01 of the second half to take control of the game with a commanding 66-43 lead. During that stretch, McDowell accounted for eight points while sophomore guard Verice Cloyd (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded six points as he knocked down back-to-back three pointers to cap the run.
A 10-0 run by the Bulldogs over the next 1:39 then narrowed the gap to 66-53 with 10:03 to play before the teams traded baskets over the next several possessions to make the score 70-59 with 8:12 to play. Chattanooga then pushed their lead to 74-59 behind back-to-back baskets by McDowell before a 9-4 run by The Citadel made it 78-68 with 4:49 remaining in the game. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the Mocs used a 7-1 run to extend their lead to 85-69 before closing out the 87-74 victory.
Early in the first half, the teams were evenly matched, playing out to a 10-10 tie before UTC put together a 15-5 run to take a 25-15 lead at the 9:59 mark. A 5-0 run by the Bulldogs closed the gap to 25-20 before the Mocs responded with an 8-3 run of their own over the next 3:39 to extend their advantage to 33-23 with 5:53 remaining in the half. From there, the two teams played to a near stalemate to enter the half with Chattanooga leading 43-35.
Freshman guard Zach Urbanus led the offensive attack for The Citadel, connecting on seven-of-fourteen three-pointers to finish with a game-high 24 points and five assists. Freshman guard Cameron Wells added 20 points and a team-high tying six rebounds and five assists while freshman forward Austin Dahn and freshman forward Phillip Pandak rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman forward Matt Clark added a team-high tying six rebounds.
For Chattanooga, McDowell led three Mocs in double-figures with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting and was joined by Hartwell with his 12 points and 13 rebounds and junior forward Nicchaeus Doaks (Trenton, Tenn.) with 14 points. Senior guard Kevin Bridgewaters (Columbia, Ky.) paced the offensive with a game-high eight assists to go along with his eight points.
The Mocs return to action on Tuesday, December 4 when they welcome 12th ranked SEC power Tennessee to The McKenzie Arena for a 7 p.m. contest.
