STATS | NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS | ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
 
TROY, Ala.---The Chattanooga Mocs are not looking to make a habit of coming from behind for its victories, but for the second straight game they did just that. Tonight it came on the road in a 74-68 victory at Troy.
 
It was an impressive, resilient performance. The Mocs trailed by 14 early and by 12 at the half. That makes back-to-back wins when trailing by 13 or more early in a contest.
 
"That resiliency…the will to win," Matt Ryan explained. "Being down at the half and finding ways to win these last two is really good. If we could play like we have in second halves for the full game, which is what every team tries to do, we'll be in better position to sustain this success. But we'll take the win."
 
Ryan led all scorers with 21 tonight. He added four rebounds, five assists and two steals. David Jean-Baptiste added 13. Troy was paced by Zay Williams' 18 points and eight boards.
 
The early hole took a long time to get back from. It was -14, 26-12, with 9:31 left in the first half. Ryan's three 26:11 later knotted the score, 61-61, with 3:20 remaining. The two teams traded the lead until A.J. Caldwell turned the tables for good.
 
He drove to the basket and drew the foul completing an off-hand lay-in. The and-1 finish put the Mocs up for good.
 
"Coach called a great play," he began. "He saw what they were running and my defender flew out at me knowing that I'm a shooter. So I shot faked and took a couple dribbles in the paint. Coach has been preaching shot fake and jump stop all year. I jump stopped, shot faked, and luckily it went in for the and-1."
 
From there it was stop, score, repeat. Ryan's and- a minute later made it a five-point lead. Caldwell made it a seven-point game with a layup off a fantastic pass by Ryan. Another stop and two free throws from Caldwell capped a 10-0 run over 1:49 of clock time.
 
The Mocs started finding their touch in the second half. They shot 55.2 percent from the field (16-29) including six of 14 (42.9%) from 3pt range.
 
"It was big," Caldwell added. "Rod (Johnson) and Dave (Jean-Baptiste) hit a couple of big threes. Once Dave gets going, a lot times our team follows with him. Matt got going tonight, I think he was our leading scorer. When those start to get going, guys like me get more space and can play off it."
 
The Mocs are back in the Roundhouse Friday night. They welcome South Alabama at 7 p.m., on the SoCon Digital Network and WFLI 97.7 FM and 1070 AM.
 
RECORDS
Chattanooga 2-1 | Troy 0-2
 
QUOTABLE
"It's a rough way to earn a living. I told the guys that at halftime. I said that we deserved to be down 12 after the way we played and performed. I thought we should have been in a worse spot to be honest. But in basketball, 12 points, if you're poised enough and mature enough, it's just four possessions. Obviously, that's not the way we want to do these things and get used to things like that, but we did a good job of staying the course." – Paris on trend of early deficits.
 
"It was huge for us. An early road win, having to come back, facing foul trouble with your center. A lot of teams would fold under those circumstances, and we're a team that won't do that. I am proud of that. It was a great team win." – Ryan on the come-from-behind effort.
 
"I'm just trying to do my job. Coach preached at halftime just to stay solid and do the things we're supposed to and get stops on defense. Play together and be smart. The biggest point was for us was that, in the first half they were crashing the boards and getting a lot of offensive rebounds. Late in that game, we had guys boxing out and laying themselves on the line. Credit to us." – Caldwell on his key second half play.
 
Check out all we heard at the link above.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW

• The last time the Mocs came back from 12 points or more in the second half? 12 points exactly (41-29) at UNCG on Feb. 28, 2015. That game ended on a buzzer-beater three by Ronrico White.
• The last time the Mocs won back-to-back games when trailing at the half? February 2015. That was three in a row against ETSU (22-30), at VMI (31-36) and at UNCG (25-27). It was a part of a six-game winning streak with the last five being behind or tied at the break.
• Season-high 11 3pt made…season-low 32.4 percent from long range…the last time with 11 or more on the road in a regulation-length contest was 12 in the 71-70 win last year at VMI.

Check out all the notables at the link above.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW

• The first 100 minutes of the season, Chattanooga made 51 of 156 of its shot attempts. That's 32.7 percent. The Mocs shot 55.2 percent (16-29) in the last 20.
• -10 on the boards with 37 compared to 47 for their hosts. That included 16 offensive rebounds after the first two opponents – Eastern Kentucky (7) & Tennessee State (5) – combined for just 12. Despite the Trojans doubling the Mocs (8) on the offensive glass, both teams finished with 15 second chance points.
• 10 steals by Chattanooga tonight. Most in a road win since 12 in the 76-68 triumph at ETSU on Feb. 13, 2016.

Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
 
TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets can be purchased on GoMocs.com or by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627) or 425-5740. Fans can also stop by the Gate 1 ticket office at McKenzie Arena.

MBB UPCOMING GAMES
Nov. 15: South Alabama, 7 p.m. | Current Record: 1-1 | Next Opp: at Chattanooga (Nov. 15)
Nov. 20: at Florida State, 6:30 p.m. | Current Record: 1-1 | Next Opp: Western Carolina (Nov. 15)
Nov. 25: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. | Current Record: 2-0 | Next Opp: vs. Washington (Nov. 16)
 
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