(Photo Credit: Dale Rutemeyer/GoMocs.com) Senior Ronrico White scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to lead his team to the comeback win

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs were determined to not allow Senior Night to be spoiled. A senior in fact led the charge turning an eight-point halftime deficit into an eight-point win, 67-59, over historic Southern Conference rival ETSU Saturday night.

Ronrico White scored 15 of his team-high 20 points to spark the second-half charge. The Mocs defense held up its end as well as they held the Bucs without a field goal for more than 12 minutes.

A.J. Merriweather scored on a layup at 16:09 to stake ETSU to a 34-30 advantage. It took 12:09 for another field goal. When Lester Wilson's jumper fell at 4:00, the Mocs were up 52-44. White answered Wilson score with a three-pointer 34 seconds later to get the lead to double digits.

Merriweather hit two free throws before Eric Robertson's three-pointer gave the home team its largest lead of 12, 58-46. The Bucs made five of seven from the field down the stretch, but the Mocs made 9-12 from the charity stripe to get the eight-point victory.

The Bucs' Jalen Riley proved why he is the SoCon's leading scorer. He posted 31 points on the night. Merriweather had a strong all-around performance with 12 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals.

The defense was the story. It limited ETSU to a season-low 30 percent (18-60) shooting, 25.8 percent (8-31) in the second half. Sophomore Justin Tuoyo's seven blocks give him 94 for the season which eclipses Z. Mason's school-record 92 last season. The team recorded 10 blocks. It's the third time this season they've had 10 or more in a contest.

“I thought we did a better job in the second half guarding them,” coach Will Wade said. “I think they were without a basket for about 12 minutes, so we knocked it down and did a nice job rebounding the ball, grabbing around 43 rebounds is pretty good, but we're still turning the ball over too much and not getting enough shots at the basket which really hurts. We've got to get better at that or it's going to be our undoing here down the stretch.”

Tuoyo added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Casey Jones chipped in 17 points and seven boards, while Greg Pryor tallied 11 points and five assists. The Mocs held a 43-35 advantage on the boards, but turned the ball over 19 times tying a season high (Butler).

The win improves Chattanooga to 20-9 on the season, 13-3 in the SoCon. ETSU falls to 16-11, 8-8 in league play. UTC is a game behind league leader Wofford at 14-2. The Terriers were a 78-52 winner over The Citadel. It's the first time since 1993-94 that the team has won 20 while still in the regular season.

“It's good but were not going to stop the season because we won 20 games,” Wade smiled. It is a good accomplishment, one we talked about it. The people in town and students are starting to catch on. That crowd was awesome tonight, the students were awesome. I mean we had 5200 here on a snowy night in the south.

“That's tough to do,” he concluded. “We have more to do for the year, and we have to keep getting better. We have to take this show on the road the last couple of games and take it right on to Asheville.”

White echoed those comments on the 20 wins.

“It feels great,” he added. “We actually wanted to do it for the crowd too. This city deserves it…for us to get to 20 wins here. That was a real impact for us to try and win at home and do it for each other and for the fans.”

The Mocs return to the road for the final two games of the regular season. It starts Thursday at VMI at 7 p.m. The Keydets are coming off a double overtime 113-111 win at Western Carolina sinking 20 three-pointers. The finale is at UNCG Saturday at 5 p.m.

The games air on the SoCon Digital Network online as well as the Mocs Sports Network on the radio at US 101 the Legend at 96.1 FM in Chattanooga. 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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