FINAL STATS 

NOTES 

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga captured a big road win at UNC Greensboro using rebounding and defense to claim a 72-54 victory at UNC Greensboro (3-13/2-5).  Chattanooga (9-10/5-3) is now in first place in the Southern Conference North Division.

A slow start to the game with Nicchaeus Doaks made the game's first basket on a great feed from Khalil Hartwell for a layup at 16:46 to make it 5-2.  The Mocs defense had a lot to do with it playing a full-court trapping style which forced 16 turnovers in the first half.

UNCG played a little defense of its own in the first half.  With the Mocs leading 14-7, the Spartans did not allow UTC another field goal for almost seven minutes in taking a 20-16 lead.  Chattanooga went on an 11-0 run to jump out to a 27-20 lead with Kevin Goffney scoring seven of his 13 first-half points.

The Spartans answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Landon Clement and Kendall Toney en route to a 30-28 lead with 1:54 until the break.  The Mocs scored the half's last nine points to take a 37-30 lead into intermission.  Goffney's play was key as Mocs leading scorer Stephen McDowell picked up two early fouls playing just six of the first 20 minutes.

The Mocs abandoned the trap in the second half, but clamped down further on “D”.  Chattanooga limited the Spartans to just 28 percent (7-28) shooting in the second frame as it was all UTC.

Stephen McDowell hit a layup with 12:22 left to put the Mocs up 10, 47-37, and the lead never dropped below double-digits.  The Mocs stifling defense was coupled with aggressive play on the boards as they out-rebounded UNCG by 11 (25-14) in the second half.

Kevin Goffney keyed the Mocs with 21 points and eight rebounds.  Nicchaeus Doaks had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with a career-high four steals.  As a team, the Mocs had a season's best 13 thefts. 

Khalil Hartwell was a perfect four-for-four from the field with 12 points and six rebounds, while Keyron Sheard chipped in with 11 points and three steals.  McDowell had eight on a tough shooting night going one-for-nine, zero-for-seven from three-point range.

The Mocs held a 44-33 advantage on the boards as four Mocs (Doaks, Goffney Hartwell and Ty Patterson) had more rebounds than the Spartans game-high five from Toney.

Clement came off the bench to lead UNCG with 17 points, while Ben Stywall added 11 in the losing effort.  Free throw shooting was a problem for the Spartans as they hit 14-of-25 (56%) for the game, eight-of-19 (42.1%) in the second half.  The Mocs, however, shot made 20-of-26 attempts, 76.9 percent.

The Mocs are off to Elon for a Saturday night tilt at 7 p.m.  Chattanooga's next home game will be Wednesday, Jan. 28, as the Mocs will host reigning Southern Conference champion Davidson, another 7 p.m. start.