STATS |
NOTES |
QUOTES |
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
MACON---The Chattanooga Mocs got 34 of their 70 points from
David Jean-Baptiste and
Matt Ryan today in a 70-61 Southern Conference win at Mercer. The duo scored 17 apiece as the Mocs out-lasted their hosts.
Ramon Vila and Stefan Kenić added 10 points each. Vila commanded the boards with nine as the Mocs allowed the Bear just two offensive rebounds over the course of the game. Djordje Dimitrijevic led all scorers with 22 points.
Chattanooga took control of the game late in the first half. Kamar Robertson's three with 4:19 to go in the first half cut the margin to three, 26-23. The visitors held the Bears without a field goal for the next 7:27 with an 11-2 run stretching the lead to 12 on a Jean-Baptiste layup early in the second half.
The game took on a pattern the rest of the way. The Bears would threaten to make it a contest, and the Mocs always had an answer. It got to six and Kenić and
Rod Johnson combined for four scores in five trips to thwart a run.
Every effort toward a sustained run fell short.
"I felt like I didn't notice it at the half because I'm a very stingy, defensive guy," Coach
Lamont Paris when asked about the 10-point lead at the half. "I wanted it to be 18. I noticed it when they made their run in the second half and cut it to whatever it was. I didn't feel like it was panic mode for us. I felt comfortable.
"It seemed like every time they made a run, we were ready to weather the storm."
The Mocs didn't make it easy on themselves. Leading by eight heading into the final minute, they missed three straight free throws. The lead shrunk to 61-55 and the squad needed a timeout trying to get the ball across midcourt with 32.1 on the clock.
Ryan swung around a screen and went long.
A.J. Caldwell delivered a perfect deep ball hitting Ryan in stride leading to the easy slam. They made seven of their last eight at the free throw line to cement the win.
Chattanooga comes home for three in a row in the Roundhouse. The stretch starts with Wednesday's visit from Furman (Jan. 8) followed by Samford (Jan. 11) and Wofford (Jan. 15). Tickets are available on GoMocs.com as well as calling the McKenzie Arena box office during working hors at (423) 266-MOCS (6627).
RECORDS
Chattanooga 10-5/1-1 | Mercer 6-10/0-3
QUOTABLE
"We challenged for them to win the offensive glass situation and we did that, that was huge. We held them to only two, and we got about eight extra possessions. I think we did a good job of managing game in that way." –
Coach Paris on the strong work on the offensive glass for the third straight game (see below)
"I think we had one of our best games this year defensively. We gave up a couple easy ones at the end when we didn't want to foul, but overall it was great. We stuck to our rules, believed in what we were doing and it worked out." –
Junior forward Rod Johnson
Check out all we heard at the link above.
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- This was the sixth meeting in Macon since Mercer joined the SoCon in 2014. The Mocs are 3-3 with just four points separating the two teams before today including three OT finishes. Chattanooga now leads 424-419, a +0.83 scoring margin.
- Four-game win streak is the longest since five in a row in 2016-17. The fourth win in that run came at Mercer, 70-68.
- There's more on defensive rebounding below, but today was the fifth time this season limiting the opposition to five or fewer offensive rebounds. That's the most since seven in 2017-18. The opposing field goal percentage for those seven games was 46.2 percent. It's 41.4 percent during this run which makes it all the more impressive because of the extra opportunities to grab boards.
Check out all the notables at the link above.
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Just two offensive rebounds allowed today. That's the third straight game with three or fewer. The Mocs have grabbed 85 of the last 92 misses by opponents (92.4%).
- Chattanooga led for 37:05 of clock time. There were no ties after 0-0 and the last lead change was 9-7 on a Matt Ryan 3pt with 13:42 left in the first half.
- Six turnovers for the Mocs on the day. Fewest since six late last season at…Mercer (Feb. 23, 2019).
Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
MBB UPCOMING GAMES
Jan. 8: Furman | Current Rec.: 13-3/3-0 | Next Opp:
CHATTANOOGA (Jan. 8)
Jan. 11: Samford | Current Rec.: 8-8/2-0 | Next Opp: Wofford (Jan. 8)
Jan. 15: Wofford | Current Rec.: 9-6/1-1 | Next Opp: at Samford (Jan. 8)
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