STATS | NOTES | QUOTES
 
NICEVILLE, Fla.---The Chattanooga Mocs captured the Emerald Coast Classic "travel bracket" Championship with a 62-52 win over Jacksonville State at the Arena at Northwest Florida State College. Justin Tuoyo led a quartet of Mocs in double digits with 14.
 
"We really paid a lot of attention to our defense," senior guard Eric Robertson shared. "Offensively, it really wasn't clicking a lot in the first half. So we really relied on our defense to help us get the win.
 
"Defense was really a focus coming in." 
 
The 52 points allowed is the low mark of the season for an opponent. UTC gave up just 110 points (55.0 per game) in the two wins to grab the title.
 
Tuoyo echoed his teammate's comments, "Defense is one of our good aspects we haven't done so far. So this weekend, we've focused on that. We've held teams to 58 and 52 so far, so we've shown we can win in any way possible."
 
Chuck Ester gave the Mocs their largest lead of 14, 45-31, with a layup with 13:37 left. He answered back-to-back JSU scores with a tip dunk 1:24 later for a 47-35 advantage.
 
The Gamecocks would not go away. Erik Durham scored three of his game-high 17 with a triple at 9:35 to get within seven, 49-42. Tuoyo ended a three-plus-minute scoreless stretch with a three-point play at 7:50 to push the margin back to 10, 52-42.
 
Christian Cunningham's back-to-back slams cut the lead to six, 54-48, with 3:30 remaining. The Mocs would not bend any further. A Tuoyo dunk was followed by layups from Greg Pryor and Robertson to get back to a 13-point cushion, 62-49, the latter coming at 1:29 to secure the victory.
 
Casey Jones had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Pryor and Robertson each chipped in 10, while Ester led a strong effort off the bench with six points and five boards in 12 minutes of playing time. The Mocs reserves out-scored their counterparts 17-1.
 
"We need to utilize our depth…it needs to be the strength of our team," coach Matt McCall stated. "Looking at the minutes, Casey probably played too many, so did Greg (Pryor). They were important to us on the floor, but our bench gave us great minutes. Especially late…Chuck gave us great minutes."
 
Chattanooga dominated the boards in the second half after a lackluster first 20 minutes. It was +10 (19-9) on the glass in the second frame which was a big key to the triumph.
 
"It was a mindset," McCall added. "We didn't shoot as high a percentage from 3pt range in the second half, so there were more chances to rebound the ball. Our guys did a good job to get to the glass.
 
"Chuck Ester didn't play an enormous amount of minutes (12), but the minutes he played were quality. He gave us an unbelievable boost. I'm really impressed and pleased with our work on the boards in the second half."

The Mocs complete a five-game-in-10-day road show with a visit to ULM in Monroe, La., Monday. Tipoff is 8 p.m., Eastern time on 96.1 the Legend FM in Chattanooga. It will mark three games in four days total for the squad.
 
"I think it was huge winning these first two," McCall concluded. "Just for our mindset. Being able to win two games in two days, hopefully down the road this will give us confidence when we're in situations where we need to win three-in-three days or two games in four days, whatever it may be. We can revert back to this as a learning point that we're fully capable of doing it."
 
Check the men's basketball schedule page on GoMocs.com for links to video, audio and live stats. Follow @GoMocsMBB for live tweets from the contest.
 
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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).
- 2 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year: Z. Mason (2014), Justin Tuoyo (2015).
- 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).