Final Stats
DAVIDSON, N.C. --- In its first game in 13 days, the Chattanooga men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 22 Davidson Saturday night as the Mocs dropped a heartbreaker to the Wildcats 100-95 in both teams' conference opener.
It was a battle of the Stephens for both UTC (1-6/0-1) and Davidson (8-1/1-0) as Stephen McDowell (UTC) and Stephen Curry (Davidson) combined for 82 points in the contest as Curry led all scorers with 41. McDowell led the Mocs with a career-high 31 points, including 16 in the second half as the senior went 12-for-25 from the floor.
Three other Mocs players were in double figures, including Kevin Goffney who put in 15 in his first game back after suffering an ankle injury in the opening minutes of the team's season opener against Tennessee. Keyron Sheard and Ty Patterson also scored in double figures, with 13 and 11 respectively, as the Mocs put up its second highest scoring effort of the season, shooting 33-of-65 from the field.
Freshman Chris Early, in the first game of his career, came off the bench and gave UTC nine points, all off three-pointers. Early, a transfer from Oklahoma, sat out the first six games of the season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Besides Curry, Will Archambault played a huge role off the bench for Davidson with 20 points as the Wildcats shot 45.1 percent from the field, including 52.8 percent in the second half alone.
The Mocs went into the break with a 44-40 lead as UTC shot 16-of-32 from the field. McDowell led all players in the half with 15, while Sheard and Goffney had eight apiece. To start the contest the Mocs were able to jump out to a quick 11-2 lead as Chattanooga lead by as many as 10 in the half.
Coming out of the locker rooms Davidson came out firing as the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 48-44. The Mocs would not be phased though as the team answered with a 6-0 run of its own to surge ahead by two, 50-48.
From that point the Wildcats would regain the lead as both teams went back-and-forth throughout, to the beat of seven lead changes in the second half alone. Curry was a major factor in the half as the All-American put up 31 and made crucial buckets for Davidson as the Wildcats would eventually stretch its lead to 14 with 2:21 to play.
Trailing 92-78 the Mocs would quickly begin to chip away at the Davidson lead with the help of five three-pointers to go on a 17-5 run, to cut the Wildcat lead to only two, 97-95, with only 30 seconds left in the game. A Curry freethrow would extend the lead to three as the Mocs had the ball with 18 seconds left and a chance to tie. However, a potential tying three by McDowell was off the mark as Davidson snuck out the victory, 100-95.
Chattanooga will return to the floor on Wednesday, Dec. 17 as the Mocs travel to Johnson City, Tenn. for a showdown with East Tennessee State. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
