PREVIEW: Men’s Basketball Continues SoCon Road Swing

Ramon Vila and the Chattanooga Mocs are on the road this weekend for key SoCon matchups at The Citadel and Mercer.

GAME NOTES | STATS | CLEAR BAG POLICY | TICKETS | ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL

CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs remain on the road this weekend traveling on the Southern Conference's Southern Swing. They take on The Citadel Thursday night in Charleston, S.C., and move on to Macon, Ga., to match up with Mercer Saturday afternoon.

The Mocs are 2-0 against their SoCon rivals this season toppling Mercer 73-70 two nights before besting The Citadel 73-71. Just judging by the scores, it's obvious the games came down to the last possessions.

Kevin Easley put the squad up by three with 10 seconds to go against Mercer. The plan coming out of a timeout was to foul in the final seconds before the Bears could launch a three. That plan was not executed, but the Mocs played stifling defense limiting their visitors to a desperate final attempt that was well off the mark.

The Citadel was nerve-wracking as well. It came down to a strong drive from Lew Stallworth that was well-defended at the basket. The defense was just good enough as the ball caromed softly of the backboard rolling off the rim. Rebounded by Jonathan Scott, he clutched it as the buzzer sounded.

That's been a bit of a trademark for this group. They've played seven games with the final margin coming within five points. Four wins and three losses in those cases with eight such games ranking sixth nationally for close contests.

This week's road trip has huge Ingles SoCon Championship presented by General Shale seeding implications. Chattanooga and Samford are tied for fifth in the league at 6-8, two games ahead of Mercer in seventh at 4-10. The top six in the final standings earn a bye in the tourney quarterfinals. With the Mocs and Bulldogs playing both the Bears and 9th-place The Citadel this week, the landscape could shift quickly. Wofford, UNCG, ETSU and Furman clinched top six positions.

Game No. 28: Chattanooga (11-16/6-8) at The Citadel (11-14/3-11)
Site: Charleston, S.C. | McAlister Field House (6,000)
Time: 7 p.m.
Watch: ESPN3 | Kendall Lewis (PxP) & Dave Weinstein (Analysis)

Game No. 29: Chattanooga at Mercer
Site: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,500)
Time: 4 p.m.
Watch: ESPN3 | Todd Wilson (PxP), Jason Patterson (Analysis) & Avery Braxton (Sideline).

Listen: There are three places where you can find "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds' call. In Chattanooga, listen on 96.1 FM on the dial. Away from the Scenic City, catch it either on GoMocs.com or the TuneIn app. Links to video, audio and live stats are provided on the men's basketball schedule page.
Tickets: Tickets for home events can be purchased on GoMocs.com or by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
Clear Bag Policy: Click the link above for our "Clear Bag Policy" for ALL home events.

Last Meetings: 73-71 Win over The Citadel in Chattanooga | 73-70 Win over Mercer in Chattanooga

PROBABLE STARTERS
F – 1 – Jonathan Scott: 6.2 ppg | 3.5 rpg
F – 34 – Kevin Easley: 14.7 ppg | 6.5 rpg
C – 15 – Ramon Vila: 10.6 ppg | 4.9 rpg
G – 3 – David Jean-Baptiste: 8.8 ppg | 2.4 rpg
G – 2 – Jerry Johnson, Jr.: 10.6 ppg | 3.6 rpg

SERIES VS. THE CITADEL
Chattanooga leads 64-18 | SoCon Regular Season: 60-15 | Home: 34-6 | Away: 29-11 | Neutral: 1-1
Last 10 meetings:

Date	Site	Result	Score
1/6/2014	A	W	82-78
12/11/2014	A	W	67-48
1/31/2015	H	W	78-73
1/2/2016	A	W	84-78
2/1/2016	H	W	125-85
1/11/2017	H	W	83-73
2/27/2017	A	L	76-85
1/13/2018	A	L	101-110 (OT)
2/8/2018	H	W	85-82
1/19/2019	H	W	73-71

Date	Site	Result	Score
12/16/2012	H	L	53-63
1/29/2015	A	L	72-75 (OT)
2/19/2015	H	W	74-61
1/5/2016	H	W	74-62
2/8/2016	A	W	72-66 (OT)
1/14/2017	A	W	70-68
2/25/2017	H	L	54-64
1/15/2018	A	L	71-75 (OT)
2/10/2018	H	L	75-84
1/17/2019	H	W	73-70

NOTABLE

The Citadel is one of three schools the Mocs own 60 or more wins against. The 64 against the Bulldogs ranks between 66 vs. Western Carolina and 60 against Samford. 60 regular season SoCon wins vs. The Citadel is the most in school history ahead of 54 vs. Western Carolina and 48 against Furman.
The Mocs and Bears have played down to the wire in each of the last four visits to Macon. Chattanooga is 2-2 in those visits with three of the four ending in overtime. The cumulative tally over those four games: 285-284 in favor of the lads from Gig City.
Game two of three consecutive on the road games. The Mocs end the stretch Saturday at Mercer before returning to the Scenic City to complete the regular season with Wofford (Feb. 28) and Furman (March 2).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Feb. 23 at Mercer, 4 p.m.
Feb. 28 vs. Wofford, 7 p.m.
March 2 vs. Furman, 2 p.m. (Senior Day)

SOCON WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Feb. 21 (Thursday)
Chattanooga at The Citadel, 7 p.m.
ETSU at VMI, 7 p.m.
Samford at Mercer, 7 p.m.
Western Carolina at UNCG, 7 p.m.

Feb. 23 (Saturday)
Chattanooga at Mercer, 4 p.m.
Samford at The Citadel, 1 p.m.
Wofford at Furman, 4 p.m.
VMI at Western Carolina, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 24 (Sunday)
ETSU at UNCG, 3 p.m.

GOMOCS.COM IN A WORD FEATURE SERIES
David Jean-Baptiste – Engaged
Thomas Smallwood – Dad
Rod Johnson – Mayor
Kevin Easley – Goofy
Justin Brown – Waffle
Jerry Johnson, Jr. – Buckets
Jonathan Scott – Energy
Keigan Kerby – Hair
Duane Moss – Dwight
Ramon Vila – Everyman

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