(Photo Credit: Jim Dillon/GoMocs.com) Greg Pryor led the Mocs with 12 points in just 18 minutes due to foul trouble at Tennessee Tech Saturday night

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs led for nearly 39 minutes tonight at Tennessee Tech. The final 1:22 were not as kind as the Mocs dropped a gut-wrenching 69-67 decision in Hooper Eblen Center.

“We weren't as tough with the ball in the final minutes,” coach Will Wade said. “We turned the ball over way too much in the second half. We just weren't as tough with the ball.”

Of the Mocs 17 turnovers for the game, seven came in the last 10 minutes. Greg Pryor split the defense with a great move making a layup with 9:42 to play to put his squad up 14, 57-43. Turnovers closed the gap.

Chattanooga gave it away five times in the next six possessions while the home team got rolling. The lead was sliced to four, 57-53, on Aleksa Jugovic's layup at 7:36. That was the fifth scoring play in six possessions for the Golden Eagles.

The Mocs righted the ship. Casey Jones made two free throws and Justin Tuoyo scored on a layup to extend the lead back to eight, 61-53, at 5:27. Tech went on a 7-1 run over the next two minutes to get within two, 62-60 on two Jugovic free throws.

Jones responded with a three-point play at the other end for a 65-60 Mocs advantage. TTU ran off five straight capped by Josiah Moore's layup at 1:22 to tie it up. Torrance Rowe gave the Eagles its first lead with a deep three from the top right with 31 seconds to go.

The Mocs worked quickly on the offensive end getting a slam dunk by Tuoyo with 17.9 to play to cut the lead to 68-67. They pressed and almost forced a Tech miscue at midcourt before a timeout with just under eight seconds to go

A quick foul on the inbounds led to one of two free throws made for Dwan Caldwell. That gave Chattanooga 6.6 seconds to work with down two. Ronrico White pushed the ball up the court, but his desperation jumper was off giving the home team a come-from-behind win.

Pryor led the Mocs with 12 points. Tre' McLean came off the bench to add 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Rowe scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. Charles Jackson added 15 points and 11 boards.

“Our defense wasn't that tough,” Wade added. “We gave up way too many drives. We got a little too excited and got away from the scout a little bit. That hurt us, and they pounded us on the backboards pretty good. We had more offensive rebounds than them in the first half, but we didn't go to the glass as much (in the second half). They hurt us on the glass, and we knew that could happen.”

The 2-1 Eagles worked a 38-27 advantage on the glass. They were plus-10 (22-12) in the second frame.

The Mocs, now 1-3, led by as many as 19. They went up 45-26 early in the second half on a Tuoyo layup. Chattanooga had the lead for 37:45 the game was tied for 1:44 and TTU was on top for 31 seconds. But that was when it counted most.

The Mocs are back in McKenzie Arena this week hosting the mainland portion of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The squad opens with Robert Morris at Noon Wednesday followed by ULM against Coastal Carolina. The consolation game Thursday is Noon, while the winners tangle at 2:30 p.m., Thanksgiving Day. All four games air on the SoCon Digital Network. Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter for live updates.

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