STATS |
NOTES |
QUOTES |
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
BIRMINGHAM---
Matt Ryan scored a career-high 28 points in a 92-84 Chattanooga Mocs Southern Conference road win at Samford. He combined with
Ramon Vila and
Rod Johnson for 64 of the Mocs output.
Vila and Johnson had 18 apiece, the latter serving as a career high. They needed it as Samford's Josh Sharkey had a career night of his own with 35. Robert Allen added 21 points and 11 boards.
Ryan stole the show. His 28 came with five threes and a 9-9 night at the free throw line mostly in the final minute of the contest.
Chattanooga jumped out to an early nine-point advantage out of the break on a Johnson three and Vila dunk. The Bulldogs battled back closing to within three four times mid-way through the frame.
Jonathan Scott nailed a three followed by two more from Johnson got the lead to double-digits with just under 10 minutes to play.
It reached its zenith of 12, 71-59, a little over a minute later on yet another three, one of 14 on the night, this time by
David Jean-Baptiste. The teams kept trading offensive blows from there.
Every time Samford made a mini-run, the Mocs blocked it. Either a key stop or a settling basket. They closed the game making 10 of 10 free throws in the final minute of the game.
"They're a hard team to play," Coach
Lamont Paris shared on the First Bank post-game radio show. "They played well offensively, but we have to be better than that defensively. We just can't let guys put their head down and get all the way to the basket. It's the same team we played really well against defensively last time, but they made some adjustments tonight and good on them for that."
The Mocs return home for three of the next four games. It starts Saturday with a
Reunion Weekend matchup against Western Carolina. That's followed by a Wednesday night date with ETSU and a trip to Wofford (Feb. 8). The stretch ends with VMI visiting the Scenic City on Feb. 12.
Reunion weekend welcomes back the legends who built the most dominant program in the SoCon over the past 40+ seasons. Tickets are available on GoMocs.com or consider the
new "All You Can Eat" option.
RECORDS
Chattanooga 14-8/5-4 | Samford 8-15/2-7
QUOTABLE
"We did a good job of stepping up to make those free throws down the stretch. We didn't panic against the pressure, we made a shot when we needed and when it presented itself. They did a good job of doing the things they needed to do to win the game tonight." –
Coach Lamont Paris
"That's what the coaches said to us in the locker room. We struggled a little bit on the road heading into this game, granted we played probably the three toughest teams on the road [WCU, UNCG, ETSU]. Everyone in this league is beatable on any given night. We're excited to be at home this weekend and next week. We just have to improve our defense. We were able to just hold on tonight." –
Matt Ryan on getting the always-tough road win
Check out all we heard at the link above.
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Ryan's 48 points in the two meetings with Samford is tied for third-most in school history with Ashley Champion (2002-03) and Nicchaeus Doaks (2008-09).
- Vila has been really good against Samford in his four meetings. He's averaged 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game shooting 65.9 percent. He tallied 20 points and seven rebounds per contest in the season sweep.
- Gawdy shooting numbers against the Bulldogs this season. Turned in 52.6 percent (70-133) overall and 46.3 percent (31-67) from 3pt range in the two victories scoring 197 points.
Check out all the notables at the link above.
3 STATS TO KNOW
- The Mocs had 26 assists on 30 made shots (86.7%). 2.84 A/TO ratio for the year against the Bulldogs (54/19) assisting on 77.1 percent (54/70) of FG made.
- Josh Sharkey's 35-point effort in the loss are the most scored against Chattanooga this season.
- 85.7 percent (18-21) from the free throw line tonight making all 10 in the final minute to stave off any Bulldog rally.
Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
SOCON SCOREBOARD
Wofford 79, at The Citadel 56
Mercer 71, at ETSU 55
at Furman 74, VMI 72 (OT)
UNCG 72, at Western Carolina 58
MBB UPCOMING GAMES
Feb. 1: Western Carolina (Reunion Weekend) | Current Rec.: 13-7/5-4 | Next Opp:
at Chattanooga (Feb. 1)
Feb. 5: ETSU | Current Rec.: 18-4/7-2 | Next Opp: UNCG (Feb. 1)
Feb. 8: at Wofford | Current Rec.: 14-8/6-3 | Next Opp: Samford (Feb. 1)
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