Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- Chattanooga's men's basketball team continued its perfect ways in the Southern Conference with an 85-78 win at Wofford in its first conference road game of the season. The Mocs (9-5/4-0) had to overcome a furious first half by the Terriers.
Wofford got off to a hot start jumping out to a 32-18 advantage at the 7:08 mark. The Mocs closed within four points, 40-36, with 1:59 left in the half on a Stephen McDowell three-pointer. But the Terriers continued their hot shooting to extend its lead back to 10 at the break, 48-38. Wofford hit 12-of-20 three-pointers before the half.
It turned out to be a tale of two halves as the Mocs turned it on in the second frame. Trailing by eight, 59-51 with 12:54 to play, Chattanooga turned up the defense holding the Terriers to zero field goals over the next 10:04. During that time, the Mocs out-scored their hosts 22-11.
The Mocs took the lead for good with 4:30 to go on two free throws from Nicchaeus Doaks. Hitting its free throws down the stretch, the Mocs never opened the door to a Wofford comeback. After taking the lead, Chattanooga hit seven-of-eight to ice the game before missing two in the final two seconds.
“It is great to be able to steal one on the road,” said Head Coach John Shulman. “They don't come easy and we showed a lot of heart digging out of the hole that we dug in the first half. That's a good basketball team we beat and in a tough place to play.”
McDowell led the Mocs with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists hitting six threes on the night. Khalil Hartwell added 16 points with seven boards. Marcus Watts had a game-high eight rebounds to go with 11 points, while Matt Gwynne scored 10 points and six rebounds off the bench in 13 minutes of play.
Shane Nichols led all scorers with 23 for Wofford, while Drew Gibson tallied 19 before fouling out. The Terriers hit 17 three-pointers in 35 attempts for the game, but only eight field goals inside the arc including two-of-10 in the second half.
The Mocs hit 48.1 percent (26-54) from the field and 35 percent from three-point range (7-20). Chattanooga out-rebounded the Terriers 39-27 for the game, 24-10 in the second half.
Chattanooga continues it South Carolina road swing at Furman on Sat. Game time is set for 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Talk Monster WGOW-FM 102.3 in Chattanooga and on the internet at GoMocs.com.
