STATS |
NOTES |
QUOTES |
PHOTOS |
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs got the season off to a strong start defeating Lander 99-63 in McKenzie Arena. The contest counted as an exhibition for the NCAA DII Bearcats, the defending Peach Belt Conference Tournament Champions.
David Jean-Baptiste and
Malachi Smith combined for 37 points, 19 for the senior from Miami. Smith had 18 to go with 10 rebounds and five assists as both he and
A.J. Caldwell flirted with the program's fourth triple-double. Caldwell added a solid line of nine points, a career-high eight rebounds and five assists. The backcourt trio made 11 assists against just one turnover.
Jermaine Patterson paced Lander with 18 points and seven rebounds. Zane Rankin chipped in 14 nailing all four attempts from three, while Jared Sherfield added 10 points and five rebounds.
The Mocs broke it open early. They turned an eight-point advantage into 17, 31-14, with a 9-0 run, capped by two
Jaden Frazier free throws with 7:24 to go in the first half. Lander battled back to 11 and 14-point deficits before Chattanooga pushed forward into the break with a 50-31 lead.
"I thought the guys played really hard," Coach
Lamont Paris noted in the postgame media session. "It was a great relief to see those guys be able to get out there on the floor and play basketball again. Part of that process is trying to make it as normal as you can under the circumstances, coaching them as normal as you can.
"We got off to a good start and played pretty well, but we were still coaching them hard and trying to get after them and challenge them on some things. I thought they did a really good job of handling the circumstances of cheering for each other, being happy for each other."
It escalated quickly in the second half. Jean-Baptiste's three at 15:37 saw the lead bulge to 30, 68-38. That came one possession after Stefan Kenić drilled a three on nice inside-out ball movement by
Mark Tikhonenko as you see here.
The Mocs were firing on all cylinders making seven of nine from the field including all four triples. They never looked back leading by as many as 38 on a
Trey Doomes jumper inside the final minute making it 99-61.
It was a dominating effort on the boards. The Mocs recorded 52 rebounds with a +24 margin. That's the most rebounds since grabbing 55 against Samford on Jan. 24, 2018 in Paris' first campaign. It's largest rebound margin since +27 against Tennessee Wesleyan (46/19) last season.
"There were a lot of emotions…a ton of emotions," Paris added. "There was relief when that ball went up in the air. You're preparing, but not believing necessarily. When we received all our negative COVID tests last night, that was the first time I really thought about playing a basketball game.
"I just didn't want to do that to myself or the guys and get crazy with anticipation and not do it. I was just relieved to play a basketball game."
The Mocs are right back on the Roundhouse court Saturday hosting Northern Kentucky. It can be viewed on ESPN+ as well as listened to on WFLI 1070 AM/97.7 FM via the dulcet tones of "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds.
RECORDS
Chattanooga 1-0 | Lander 0-0
QUOTABLE
"As a program, I think we have come a long way in a lot of facets. Our overall emphasis, demeanor, and as a culture, I think we have grown tremendously. We have guys who are hungry, we have some guys who sat out last year. We have guys who are ready for a bigger role. We've grown tremendously over the last three years and I'm proud of what they've done and where we've come. It hasn't been an easy road and we've only played one game. But the things I evaluate when I talk about growth have less to do with basketball and more with every other aspect of life." –
Coach Lamont Paris on the growth of the program starting his fourth season
"It's a great focal point for the rest of the season. We can say, 'if we come and play like we can play, we can win a good amount of games.' It was a great lesson with a strong start and victory." –
David Jean-Baptiste on the importance of starting with a win
"It felt great. With the pandemic, and me sitting out last year, it just makes you appreciate the game so much more. I just wanted to go out there and have my teammates back. I was just glad to be out there and go to war with them." –
Malachi Smith on the importance of starting the season in general
Check out all we heard at the link above.
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- 107-1 since the move to DI (1977-78) against non-DI competition…11-0 all-time against the Peach Belt Conference.
- 54-48 in season openers, 39-9 at home…29th straight win when opening the season at home…last loss was Dec. 1, 1959 to Monday night's foe Tennessee Tech.
- The Mocs shot 48.1 percent from 3pt range this afternoon making 13 of 21 which was fitting considering the opposing head coach. Omar Wattad '12, in his first season leading the Bearcats, ranks third all-time in Chattanooga history with 168 3pt made.
Check out all the notables at the link above.
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Josh Ayeni likes playing in the Roundhouse. He scored 10 points in just 12:20 of action today. Including his numbers with South Alabama a year ago, he's registered 22 points on 6-7 (85.7%) shooting including 3-4 (75%) from three on his new home floor in just 29 minutes.
- Strong debut for Malachi Smith. The sophomore transfer from Wright State sat out last season but opened this one with 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals.
- Sixth time in last eight openers topping 80 points and fourth with 90+ (92 at Georgia, 11/13/15; 110 vs. Hiwassee, 11/14/14 & 119 vs. Covenant, 11/8/13).
Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
SOCON SCOREBOARD
Abilene Christian 70, ETSU 47 (Estero, Fla.)
at Mercer 79, North Georgia 48
at The Citadel 89, Piedmont 64
Western Carolina vs. UNCW, 4 p.m. (Asheville, N.C.)
Tusculum at Furman, 4 p.m.
Brewton-Parker at Wofford, 6 p.m.
St. Andrews at VMI, 7 p.m.
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