FINAL STATS

QUOTES

NOTES

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- In a clash between Southern Conference North Division rivals, the Chattanooga men's basketball team (7-10/3-3) pulled out a nail-biter against Appalachian State (6-8/3-3) 78-74 in overtime. The win gives the Mocs their third straight conference win and moves the team into a second-place tie with Appalachian State in the North Division standings.

Although Chattanooga jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, the Mountaineers went into the break leading 38-35 after an Isaac Butts dunk right before the buzzer. App led by as many 10 (29-19) with 6:58 left in the half, before the Mocs methodically closed to with one point three times before the Butts dunk.

Out of the half, the Mocs quickly regained the lead, 41-38, thanks to a 6-0 run over the first 2:34.  The Mountaineers answered right back, however with a 5-0 run of its own to go up 43-41 with a little over 15 minutes to play. The two-point advantage for the Mountaineers would be its last lead of the contest however as a Goffney jumper a mere 30 seconds later pulled UTC into a 43-all tie.

From that point, Chattanooga would slowly begin to build a lead which was eventually as large as nine, 62-53, with 7:27 left in the game. Both teams would begin exchanging buckets until the Mountaineers began to mount its comeback.

A Goffney layup put the Mocs up 67-60 with under four minutes to play, when ASU stormed on a 10-3 run to tie the contest at 70 with 1:59 to play. Both teams would be unable to break the tie however, as each went scoreless for the remainder of the half.

In overtime, two Goffney free throws at the 4:14 mark put the Mocs up 72-70. After the Mountaineers tied the contest at 72, both teams exchanged free throws to put the game at 73-apiece. With 2:09 left to play Keyron Sheard sank a layup to give UTC a 75-73 lead, one it would not relinquish. Leading 75-74, Sheard would put in two free throws to extend the lead to three, 77-74 as the team hung on for the 78-74 victory.

In a close game from start to finish, the Mocs shot 42.6 percent from the field (23-of-54) compared to the Mountaineers' 40.9 percent (27-for-66). Chattanooga was led on the evening by senior Kevin Goffney who recorded his second double-double of the season with a career-high 22 points off 7-of-10 shooting (70 percent) and 11 rebounds. In addition, Goffney also had a career-high five steals and two blocks.

Stephen McDowell was held to a season-low eight field goal attempts, but he made the most of his chances, going 5-of-8 from the field (62.5 percent) for 18 points. The senior was 4-of-7 from behind the three-point arc (57.1 percent), extending his streak of games with a three-pointer to 38.

Also scoring in double-figures for UTC were Khalil Hartwell and Keyron Sheard with 13 and 12, respectively. Nicchaeus Doaks was huge on the boards for the Mocs, pulling in 11 in addition to his five points.

Kellen Brand led Appalachian State with 21 points in the loss, while Donald Sims pitched in with 13 to go with six assists.  Josh Hunter led all players with 12 rebounds as the Mountaineers held a slim one-rebound advantage, 40-39, on the glass.