(Photo Credit: Dale Rutemeyer/GoMocs.com) Casey Jones had his second double-double in three games scoring 18 points to go with tying his career high of 13 boards in the triumph
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---Justin Tuoyo and the Chattanooga Mocs tied block records in a 66-60 win over visiting Western Carolina Thursday night. Tuoyo's nine tied the Southern Conference record for rejections in a league contest, while the Mocs' 15 matched the school and league record.
“It's a competitive SoCon game,” Tuoyo said deflecting record talk like shots tonight. “We played a great team; real physical, real tough. Nobody is going to back down in this league. So we came out went on a run. They came back, bounced back, so it was just a tough game.
“Everybody contributed, came off the bench, did what they had to do, so it helped us out.”
Casey Jones led a quartet of double-figure scorers for Chattanooga with 18 while tying his career high for rebounds with 13. Tuoyo added 15 points, while Eric Robertson and Ronrico White each tallied 11. James Sinclair scored 18 to lead the Catamounts.
The Mocs led by nine at halftime, but could not extend it early in the second frame. Rhett Harrelson's runner at 9:45 got the Catamounts within one, 46-45. Jones took over.
The junior from New Orleans answered with a jumper at the other end. He then stole it on the defensive end and was fouled attempting a coast-to-coast dunk. He made bother free throws to get the lead back to five, 50-45.
Devin Peterson came back with a layup to make it 50-47, but Jones scored on a tip in and then two free throws with 6:25 to go to get it to seven, 54-47. The onslaught continued. The Mocs defense continued to get stops and the offense kept getting to the free throw line. White gave the home team its largest lead of 12, 61-49, with two free throws capping a 15-4 run after Harrelson's layup with Jones scoring eight of the 15.
The closest it would get the rest of the way was the final tally of 66-60. Harrelson hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go after Tuoyo's ninth block led to an open look.
Lost in the records and double-double was a special performance by Ronrico White. The senior was solid offensively with his 11 points, five rebounds and three assists playing the entire 40 minutes at the point for an injured Greg Pryor. His defense against Harrelson was pivotal to the victory.
“Rico was phenomenal,” Wade added. “His offensive stat line was good, but he did just a tremendous job on (Rhett) Harrelson. He hardly got any clean looks. (Rico) did a tremendous job on him.”
Harrelson entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in 3pt made per game (3.5). He made two in 39 minutes and was limited to eight points which is eight below his average. Mike Brown scored 14 for Western, while Torrion Brummitt chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Wade also touched on playing without his starting point guard Greg Pryor.
“When you're down key guys, you have to have other guys step up,” he continued. “Tuoyo stepped up. Casey stepped up. Rico was just phenomenal. Everybody contributed. I'm proud of everybody.
“You guys finally got to see a flash of Chuck (Ester)…what we get to see in practice all the time,” he noted. “We just have to get him aggressive and get that thing translating. I'm proud of all of our guys.
“We found a way.”
The Mocs limited the Catamounts to 35.5 percent (22-62) shooting from the field. Western took 20 more shots (62-42) than its hosts, but Chattanooga made theirs count making 45.2 percent (19-42) from the field and 25 of 33 (75.8%) at the free throw line.
It was a see-saw battle early. Sinclair put the Cats up one, 21-20, with two free throws with a little less than seven minutes to go until the break. Robertson's three with 50 seconds to go capped a 13-3 Mocs run to take a 33-24 advantage into intermission.
Tuoyo's nine blocks ties the conference record for a league contest with George Singleton (Furman, twice, 1981), Omar Roland (Marshall, 1/13/90) and Eric Mann (VMI, 1/15/00). The 15 blocks tied the school record against Bluefield on December 18, 2002. It's also even with the SoCon record shared by VMI (vs. Appalachian State, 2/10/03) and College of Charleston (vs. ETSU, 1/3/00).
Chattanooga returns to the road for its next two games starting Saturday at East Tennessee State. The Mocs and Bucs square off at 4 p.m., at Freedom Hall in Johnson City. The game broadcasts online via the SoCon Digital Network and on the radio locally at US 101 the Legend 96.1 FM. Gameday links to video (SDN), audio (MSN) and live stats are available on GoMocs.com. Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter for live updates.
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ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
- The Mocs are by far the most successful program in the Southern Conference since joining the league in 1977-78. The team has won 28 titles with 10 regular season, 10 tournament and eight division.
- 15 NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1961 (DII), 1973 (DII), 1975 (DII), 1976 (DII Runner-up), 1977 (DII National Champs), 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 (Sweet 16), 2005, 2009
- 10 SoCon Tournament Crowns: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2009
- 10 SoCon Regular Season Championships: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
- 8 Division Titles: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011
- The 1997 team went to the NCAA Sweet 16 with wins over Georgia and Illinois.
- 5 SoCon Players of the Year: Willie White (1981-82), Keith Nelson (1991-92), Tim Brooks (1992-93), Chad Copeland (1993-94) and Johnny Taylor (1996-97).
- 1 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year: Z. Mason (2014).
- 3 SoCon Coaches of the Year: Murray Arnold (1982, '83), Mack McCarthy (1986, '92, '93) and Will Wade (2014).
- 9 NBA Draft Picks: Walter “Moose” McGary (1973 & '74), William Gordon (1977), Wayne Golden (1977), Russ Schoene (1982), Nick Morken (1982), Willie White (1984), Gerald Wilkins (1985, 13 seasons) and Johnny Taylor (1997 1st Round).
