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CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs ran away with a 90-72 win over South Alabama Friday night in McKenzie Arena. It was a dominating performance led by a trio of double-figure scorers.
 
David Jean-Baptiste had a career-high 25 to lead with way. He was joined in the 20s by Matt Ryan with 20 on the number, while Ramon Vila added 17 points, six rebounds and a career-best four assists. Andre Fox led the Jaguars with 24.
 
It was an uneasy start with the visitors scoring the first four points after a quick Mocs turnover against the press. The deficit was 8-3 when the hosts jumped ahead behind a 19-1 run. Vila's layup at 8:50 made it 22-9.
 
The Jaguars responded scoring the next seven points breaking an eight-plus minute drought with a Fox three to answer the Vila layup. That was as close as the Mocs allowed it to get.
 
They closed the half on an 8-0 run capped by Jean-Baptiste's buzzer-beater three.
 
"At the last dead ball, coach looked at me and said if you have the shot, take it…stay aggressive," Jean-Baptiste explained. "We spread the floor and Justin (Brown) set a great screen. The 5 switched on me. He kept backing up, giving me space. Coach instilled full confidence in me taking that shot, and it went in."
 
It carried over into the second 20. The lead topped 20 on Ryan's triple at 16:54. It reached its apex of 28, 66-38, on Trey Doomes' layup on an in-bounds pass from Rod Johnson, one of five assists for the junior power forward.
 
The Jaguars chipped away from there. Tyreke Locure's three off the fast break got it under 20 again, 73-54, at 6:22. The lead narrowed to 16 twice inside five minute and got as close as 15, 84-69, with 2:25 to go on a Chad Lott basket.
 
But the Gig City lads did not wilt. Four points from Ryan and a final two free throws by Jonathan Scott cemented the 90-72 final. Despite the 90 points and blistering the nets throughout the evening, and we discuss the shooting prowess at length below, Coach Lamont Paris had a different focus in the postgame media scrum.
 
"Our emphasis was on the defensive end because those guys are aggressive, downhill, strong athletic finishers," Paris shared. "I can't say enough about two things. One, how we competed physically and two, how we stuck to the game plan.
 
"The first half was a phenomenal job, best thing we've done since I've been here on that end and it isn't even close. I was really happy for our guys."
 
The Mocs hit the road for five games away from the friendly Roundhouse confines. It starts next Wednesday, Nov. 20, with a trip to Florida State followed five days later with the short trip up I-75 to take on Tennessee on Nov. 25.
 
They then go to the gulf coast of Florida for the Emerald Coast Classic (Nov. 29-30) meeting Alabama State in the opening round with either Jacksonville State or Chicago State awaiting on day two. The tour of the southeast concludes with the Southern Conference opener at Western Carolina on Dec. 3.
 
After approximately 2,000 miles of travel over a two-week period, the Mocs come home on Dec. 8 to take on Tennessee Wesleyan. Tickets are available on GoMocs.com or by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
 
RECORDS
Chattanooga 3-1 | South Alabama 2-2
 
QUOTABLE
"I told the guys at halftime, and our guys never been in this position, that it's a lot harder playing with a lead than playing from behind. I'd take playing with a lead rather than being behind, but it's so hard playing with a lead like that because every second and every play made, you're looking at the clock. You're supposed to win in everyone's mind. Their back is against the wall and have nothing to lose. I told the guys that." – Paris on going into half with a large lead.
 
"I think the biggest part, especially playing with a lead, was to stay aggressive. We couldn't get complacent or get comfortable to allow them to come back. It was always staying aggressive, taking smart shots and not quick shots. It was mostly about staying aggressive and staying smart. It feels a lot better coming out strong tonight. It was a great team effort." – Jean-Baptiste on the key to keeping the lead.
 
"Coach always says that we have to be a solid team. The last two games we've had rough first halves and solid second halves. That's not being solid, that's just solid for 20 minutes. This was the first time being solid for all 40 minutes, and we're happy because that's what we're looking for. " – Vila on playing solid for all 40 minutes.
 
Check out all we heard at the link above.
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW

• That's 12 straight games in double figures for Jean-Baptiste. That's the longest stretch since Nat Dixon's 14 in 2017-18.
• Speaking of best performances since Dixon, Ryan's 20 followed 21 Tuesday night at Troy. He's the first since Dixon with back-to-back 20-point nights. Dixon's came against UNCG (30 in a 2OT victory) and at Western Carolina (21).
• The Mocs led by as many as 28 tonight. The last time they led a DI opponent by that many was Feb. 2, 2017. UNC Greensboro was the victim in a 23-point triumph. 91-68, but they trailed their hosts by 40, 88-48, on Greg Pryor's falling out of bound 3pt off a steal with 7:39 to go. That play was SportsCenter's No. 1 play in their nightly Top 10.

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

• It was a season-high shooting making 54.8 percent (34-62) from the field and 50.0 percent (11-22) from long range. Top shooting percentage since making 29 of 51 (56.9%) in the 85-82 win over The Citadel on Feb. 8, 2018. They're shooting 55 percent (50-91) over last three halves (60 minutes).
• The Mocs dominated the paint tonight. They scored a 40-22 advantage on points in the paint and were +6 on the boards holding the Jaguars nearly six rebounds (30) below their 35.7 rebound-per-game average.
• 36 assists in the last two contests on 58 made field goals for a 62.0 assist rate. The season record is 62.1 percent in 2003-04.

Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
 
MBB UPCOMING GAMES
Nov. 20: at Florida State, 6:30 p.m. | Current Record: 2-1 | Next Opp: Chattanooga (Nov. 20)
Nov. 25: at No. 25 Tennessee, 7 p.m. | Current Record: 2-0 | Next Opp: vs. Washington (Nov. 16)
Nov. 29: vs. Alabama State (Niceville, Fla.), 2:30 p.m. | Current Rec.: 0-3 | Next Opp: at Tennessee (Nov. 20)
 
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