(Photo Credit: Dale Rutemeyer/GoMocs.com) Ronrico White had a season-high seven assists to lead Chattanooga into the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis mainland event

NOTES | QUOTES | STATS | PHOTO GALLERY | MEDIA GUIDE | TICKETS

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs got the Battle 4 Atlantis mainland meetings off to a great start with a 61-46 win over two-time defending Northeast Conference Robert Morris. The Mocs defense stymied the Colonials, while the offense benefitted from a trio of double-digit scorers.

“Our defense is quite a bit better,” Coach Will Wade said. “We felt like they really only hit five field goals against our set defense. We felt like we should sit back, guard them in the half-court and make them score over us. Our guys did a good job executing the plan.”

Casey Jones, Greg Pryor and Justin Tuoyo each tallied 13 points for the home team with Jones posting a double-double with a game-high 10 points. It was the second double-double of the season for a Moc (Tuoyo) as the squad moves to 2-3.

Lucky Jones led RMU with 11 points, while Rodney Pryor added nine. Chattanooga limited the Colonials to 27.8 percent shooting for the game making 15 of 54 shot attempts.

It was an eight-point game early in the second half when the Mocs took firm control. Greg Pryor started a 10-0 run with a three-pointer from top left. Duke Ethridge capped it with two free throws at 12:53 for a 45-27 advantage.

After two free throws from Marcquise Reed, Chattanooga got back-to-back baskets from Tuoyo and Pryor. The latter's was a trey with 10:10 to go as the lead swelled to 21, 50-29.

RMU answered with a 10-0 run of its own. Stephen Bennett snapped a 6:35 cold snap for the Colonials with a jumper at 9:40. He followed with a layup less than a minute later to spark the spurt. Rodney Pryor's three-ball at 4:23 cut the margin to 11, 51-40.

That's when Jones took over. He scored eight of the Mocs' final 10 points while grabbing three rebounds and adding a block during the final 4:23.

“We did a nice job with getting to the rim and attacking the paint,” Wade added. “We wanted to do that against the zone (2-3). I thought Justin Tuoyo did a good job. We threw the ball to him in the post. He made some good post moves. He needs to convert a little bit better at the line, but we'll work with him on that.

“Casey looked like his old self today,” he continued. “We challenged him to get back to being the dirty-work guy, blue-collar guy. I thought he did a nice job. He was skying for some rebounds. He really did a good job in there.”

The Mocs got off to a fast start with a 7-0 run right out of the gate with five coming from Tuoyo in the post. The Colonials battled back to take the lead on two Bennett free throws, 17-16, at 9:03.

Jones hit a jumper at 8:46 which gave the Scenic City lads a 19-17 advantage. Elijah Minnie's three-pointer at 6:22 swung the pendulum back in the Colonials favor, 20-19. The Mocs scored 11 unanswered points to go up 10, 30-20 on a Tre' McLean three-pointer with 3:14 left in the half. Reed scored five straight for the visitors before Eric Robertson sent the home team into intermission with a 32-25 advantage.

Ronrico White had a season-high seven assists in his first start since March 8, 2013 against UNCG at the Southern Conference Championship. Tuoyo added six rebounds and three blocks to his stat line as the Mocs won the battle of the boards by a single rebound, 37-36. The team shot a season-best 77.4 percent from the free throw line making 24 of 31.

“We're a much better team when we have Pryor and Rico (Ronrico White) out there together,” Wade concluded. “You open up Rico to drive where they couldn't load in on him and load to the ball. He had seven assists and no turnovers if I remember correctly. Pryor's worked really hard. He's our hardest worker, probably our toughest kid, and we really trust him.”

The Battle 4 Atlantis mainland edition resumes tomorrow. RMU faces the loser of ULM/Coastal Carolina at Noon, while Chattanooga takes on the winner in the championship game at 2:30 p.m. Both games air on the SoCon Digital Network. Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter for live updates.

GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs.  The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter.  Find out how to join the UTC Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.