(Photo Credit: Dale Rutemeyer/GoMocs.com) Eric Robertson had a team-high 17 points in tonight's win over VMI

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs ran past VMI 86-64 in McKenzie Arena Thursday night. The victory puts the Mocs at 13-7 overall, 6-1 in the Southern Conference tied for first with Wofford. The Keydets drop to 7-13, 3-6 in league contests.

Eric Robertson led Chattanooga with 17 points making all five shots from the field including three from 3pt range. Ronrico White added 15 points and three assists with zero turnovers against VMI's constant pressure. The visitors were paced by Phillip Anglade's 16 points and seven rebounds.

The Mocs dominated the game in the paint and in controlling the ball. They had a 50-28 advantage on points in the paint and were plus-12 in turnover margin with just 10 against the press, while VMI tallied 22 miscues. That led to a positive 16 in points off turnovers (23-7) for UTC.

“I told our guys we couldn't shoot a shot until we touched the paint,” coach Will Wade said. “We took two or three where we didn't touch the paint, but I wanted to get that thing in the paint to make sure that we took great shots and not good shots.

“I thought our guys did a nice job,” he added. “I think we only turned the ball over 10 times. That's really good against them. Every turnover you commit seems like two. So it seems like more when you play a team like that. But we did a nice job. We didn't turn the ball over, we were tough with the ball, and that certainly helped us.”

Chattanooga took control of the game late in the first half. Leading by four, 32-28, with 3:09 remaining until intermission, the home team ran off seven unanswered points to go up 11, 39-28, on a Martynas Bareika free throw at 1:07. It took a 10-point lead into the half (41-31) on Tre' McLean's follow on a Greg Pryor miss just before the buzzer sounded.

It was still a 10-point game, 55-45, with 12:07 to go when the Mocs put it out of reach in a hurry. Casey Jones' layup a little over two minutes later capped a 12-2 run for a 67-47 margin at 9:36. Pryor's two free throws with 5:24 remaining gave the home crowd its biggest lead of 23, 77-54.

Jones had a solid all-around effort with 13 points, five rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes. Tuoyo added 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. It's his 17 straight multi-block game, eighth with three or more. The Mocs shot 48.4 percent (30-62) from the field for the second straight game.

While the offense played well, the defense was stingy. They limited VMI to 30.9 percent (21-68) shooting from the floor, 28.0 percent (7-25) from beyond the arc. The field goal percentage was the third-worst of the season for the Keydets, and the Mocs 10 turnovers are the second-fewest allowed by them behind nine to West Virginia in November.

“We did a good job of handling the ball with only 10 turnovers tonight,” White noted. “The teams VMI has beaten have a lot of turnovers. It was very important for us to take care of the ball.”

Robertson echoed his teammate's comments, ““Taking care of the ball was very important for us, first and foremost, break the press. Once you broke the press, it was a three-on-two or two-on-one. Then it was all about converting.”

Chattanooga remains at home this Saturday squaring off with UNCG. The game is on ESPN3.com at 6 p.m., following the ladies tilt with Furman at 3 p.m. Click the tickets link above to order and print at your home or office.

The game broadcasts on the radio locally at US 101 the Legend at 96.1 FM. Gameday links to video (ESPN3.com), audio (MSN) and live stats are available on GoMocs.com. Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter for live updates.

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