STATS | NOTES | QUOTES
 
LEXINGTON, Va.---Tre' McLean tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds leading the Chattanooga Mocs to a 67-65 win at VMI Monday night. The triumph give UTC the outright Southern Conference Championship, the 11th in school history.
 
"It's big," coach Matt McCall shared. "There's a lot of places in the country that have to share it. These guys deserve it. They deserve to win it outright. They handled their business for the most part for 15 games this year. They beat the best teams in the league twice with the exception of Furman – beat ETSU twice, beat Wofford twice, beat Mercer twice.
 
"They handled their business. And this chapter's done. This part of the season is finished. It's on to a new one."
 
McLean added, "It's a great feeling, the journey that started when Coach McCall got here. It feels great to be able to do something great for the city of Chattanooga, for the fans and for each other.
 
"It's just a great feeling."
 
McLean's 16 points and 13 boards led his squad on this night. Of the 13, the biggest probably came with 26 seconds to play. Greg Pryor missed the second of two free throws, but McLean was there to tip it out leading to Dee Oldham heading to the line with 23 ticks left.
 
"I was just playing hard, trying to make a play," McLean said. "We did everything we had to do to win it outright. We didn't want to share it. We knew what we put into it. We were just putting it all on the line.
 
"We can rest tomorrow. I was just able to get my hand on the ball."
 
The Mocs used a stellar defensive effort to flip a second half deficit. Down seven with 14:49 to play, Chattanooga clamped down on the Keydets with a 26-9 run over an 11-minute span to go up 10, 64-54, with 3:21 on a Duke Ethridge dunk.
 
SoCon-leading scorer Q.J. Peterson was held in-check a majority of the game, but he took over from there. Peterson drilled a off a Tim Marshall offensive rebound. He then nailed another a minute later to cut the lead to four, 64-60, with 1:16 to go.
 
After a stop, Peterson scored in the lane to cut it to two, 64-62. That's when McLean's heroics occurred. Pryor and Oldham each hit one of two for a 66-62 advantage.
 
Peterson wasn't done. He was fouled in the act of shooting a triple and his three FTs made it a one-point game. Pryor landed on the foot of a defender with 15.9 to play turning the ball over to the Keydets.
 
Justin Tuoyo excelled on the pick-and-roll coverage forcing an errant three from Peterson. Oldham gathered the rebound and made a free throw with 1.2 to go for the 67-65 final.
 
"None of them are going to be easy," Oldham explained. "You can't come into games having expectations. We have a target on our back and each game teams are going to give us their best shot. And that's what we got tonight. We got VMI's best shot."
 
The Mocs travel to Asheville, N.C., for the SoCon Championships March 4-7. The top seed in the event, they face the winner of Friday's Samford-VMI first round contest on Saturday at Noon.
 
The game airs on ESPN3 online and the Mocs Sports Network through 96.1 the Legend FM in Chattanooga. Check the men's basketball schedule page on GoMocs.com for links to video, audio and live stats. Follow @GoMocsMBB for live tweets.
 
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.
 
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).