GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (9-11/3-4) furious comeback fell short tonight as UNCG (5-14/3-4) captured an 81-72 Southern Conference North Division win in the Greensboro Coliseum Thursday night. UTC was down 10 with just over three minutes to go before a strong run made it interesting.

David Williams' layup at 3:29 gave the Spartans a 72-62 lead and it appeared to be well in control of the contest. But the Mocs were not out. Two free throws by Lance Stokes (Orlando, Fla.) just 20 seconds later began the climb back.

Ricky Taylor (Brownsville, Tenn.) scored the next three points in the game with a layup on one possession and making one of two free throws on the next to cut the lead to 72-67 with 2:17 to go. After two free throw misses by Aloysius Henry, Keegan Bell (Huntsville, Ala.) drained his first three-point attempt of the game to cut the lead to two, 72-70, at 1:36.

The Spartans did not break. They answered the Mocs 8-0 run with a 9-0 of their own capped by a Williams slam with five seconds to play. Two Bell free throws provided the final margin.

Omar Wattad (Johnson City, Tenn.) led UTC with 19 points. Taylor had 18, while Drazen Zlovaric (Novi Sad, Serbia) posted a double-double with 14 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.

The UNCG bench was the difference. It scored 54 of the Spartans' 81 points including 36 of 37 in the opening half. Derrell Armstrong led all scorers with 29 points in reserve. Kyle Randall added 15, also coming off the pine.

The Mocs scored the game's first seven points before UNCG rattled off 13 straight. That lead got to as many as eight with UTC cutting it to just a point three different time before the Spartans took a 37-31 lead into the break.

Like in the first frame, Chattanooga got off to a quick start in the second half. It scored the first nine points to take a 40-37 advantage on a Wattad three-pointer at 17:33. The lead see-sawed back-and-forth until the Spartans took the lead for good on a Trevis Simpson three-pointer at 11:04, 52-50.

The Mocs complete a three-game road Swing Saturday at Elon. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.

Listen to the "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds on ESPN 105.1 FM in Chattanooga or on GoMocs.com via MocsVision. Follow @GoMocs on twitter for stats and notes in game and go to GoMocs.com for links to live stats as well as post-game information.