Chattanooga at Mercer
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Macon, Ga.; Hawkins Arena
Postgame Notes
 
TEAM
- Chattanooga dropped a 74-69 decision at Mercer Thursday night…now 12-17 overall, 7-9 in the Southern Conference…the Bears are 11-17, 6-10 in league play.
- Currently fifth in the SoCon at 7-9 which is one game ahead of Samford and Mercer which are tied for sixth at 6-10…top six in the final standings earn byes into the quarterfinal round of the Ingles Southern Conference Championships presented by General Shale.
- The Mocs are among the nation's leaders in nail-biters…9th game with a final margin of five points or less…5-4 in those contests.
- Games went down to the wire in each of the last five visits to Macon…Chattanooga is 2-3 with three of the five ending in overtime. The cumulative tally: 358-354 in favor of the Bears.
- Rough day on the boards with a -16 margin (25-41)…25 Mocs rebounds ties season low at UNCG on Dec. 29.
- Tale of two halves shooting the basketball…made 17 of 29 (59%) in the opening 20 before struggling to the tune of 35 percent (9-26) in the second.
- Led 42-28 with 11 seconds left in the first half…gave up four points in those final 11 seconds…Mercer out-scored their guests 43-19 over 18:43 from being down 42-28 at that 11-second mark through a 71-61 advantage with 28 seconds remaining.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
2 – 2nd straight game playing without leading scorer and rebounder Kevin Easley...listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
5 – Led at intermission in each of the last five games.
8 – Losses when leading in the second half…had a 10-point advantage at the half and was up four with five minutes to play.
14 – Largest lead for the Mocs (0:11 left in first half).
18 – Second chance points for the Bears…+12 in the stat in a five-point game.
37 – Ross Cummings set a new career high and missed a Hawkins Arena record by two points.
40 – 1-14 when opponents score 40 or more points in the second half…Mercer had 40 this afternoon.
 
SERIES NOTES
- Meeting: 71st.
- 33-38 vs. the Bears all-time.
- 5-5 in regular season conference games.
- 11-25 on the road.
- Last 10: 5-5.
 
STUDENT-ATHLETES
David Jean-Baptiste, So.-G
- 15 points on 6-11 shooting including 3-6 from 3pt range.
- 5th straight game in double digits…averaging 13.2 ppg over that span.
- 15th double-figure scoring game in 2018-19, 23rd of his career.
- 8th game this year with three or more 3s…12 of 28 (42.9%) over last five games from long range.
- Four assists with one turnover…10th game with one or fewer turnovers in his 19 starts.
 
A.J. Caldwell, Fr.-G
- Nine points tying career-high three 3pt made.
- 3-5 from long range…5-12 (41.7%) on the road trip.
- Team-best +11 plus/minus for his 13 minutes off the bench.
 
Jerry Johnson, Jr., Jr.-G
- Team-high 17 points…6-11 from the floor (1-3 3pt) and 4-6 at free throw line.