STATS |
NOTES |
QUOTES |
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
CHARLESTON---
Matt Ryan and
Ramon Vila combined for 47 points in a 91-68 Southern Conference triumph at The Citadel Wednesday night. The duo scored 27 and 20, respectively as the Mocs moved into a tie for fourth in the hotly-contested league standings.
Chattanooga led from start-to-finish, but that doesn't mean there wasn't drama. It was a road game. There's always drama. Up 12, 40-28, at the half, the Mocs were cruising.
The Bulldogs scored on their first four possessions of the second half. Tyson Batiste and Kaiden Rice scored on layups followed by a Batiste three. Derek Webster, Jr., made it a 9-0 spurt to start the frame dicing the lead to three, 40-37.
"You're not comfortable at all with a 12-point lead," Coach
Lamont Paris shared with "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds on the First Bank postgame show. "Especially against a team like that can catch fire from three at any point. They made a run and we specifically didn't call a timeout so we could let the guys find their way through those situations.
"And they did. We got it back up to ten and then after that we began to play basketball."
That didn't take long either. Stefan Kenić (2), Ryan (3) and a
David Jean-Baptiste layup immediately got it back to 10. After Citadel answered the quick run, Jean-Baptiste put the lead back in double digits for good with this drive.
It was still a 15-point game, 64-49, with 11 minutes to go after Kaelon Harris' layin for the hosts. The Mocs scored 11 of 13 points to jump out to a 75-51 advantage on a Vila putback on what felt like a rare Ryan miss from three.
The lead never dropped below 22 the rest of the way. Ryan tied his career high of seven threes made while setting a new number in field goals with 10. It was an efficient 27 points coming on 17 shot attempts. Jean-Baptiste added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Brady Spence paced the Bulldogs with 16 points followed y Rudy Fitzgibbons with 14 and Kaiden Rice with 10.
The Mocs are home Saturday hosting Mercer in a pivotal SoCon clash for seeding purposes in the Ingles Southern Conference Championships presented by General Shale. There are a lot of
promotions and ticket deals available for the final two home games the next two Saturday afternoons.
RECORDS
Chattanooga 17-11/7-7 | The Citadel 6-20/0-15
QUOTABLE
"Good slate for us. Let's get it rocking and rolling. It's a great time of year. I told the guys that some guys that don't have a lot to play for, and we have a lot to play for. There's so much moving in our league in the standings. We're just trying to keep it moving. We have Mercer next and that's our focus." –
Coach Lamont Paris on two of the final three games coming at home
"There was never any panic. They cut it to three and then we rattled off seven-straight heading into the media. Coach emphasized defense during that stretch, and we capitalized. They [Citadel] compete. They come out and play everyone tough. I thought tonight was a great opportunity for some guys who haven't' seen the ball go through, to get going tonight. It was a good night for a lot of guys." –
Grad student Matt Ryan
Check out all we heard at the link above.
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- 85th meeting all-time with a 67-18 lead for the Mocs. The 67 wins are the most against any opponent breaking a tie with Western Carolina (66).
- 90 or more points for the fifth time against a DI opponent and fourth in a SoCon game. Both are firsts since 2003-04 (16 years).
- 4-way tie for 4th-place in the SoCon standings at 8-7 with Western Carolina, Mercer and Wofford. If the tournament started today, the Catamounts and Mocs would play in the 4/5 game, the Bears match up in the 3/6 contest with UNC Greensboro and the Terriers would meet in The Citadel in the first round 7/10 meeting for the right to play Furman in the quarterfinals.
Check out all the notables at the link above.
3 STATS TO KNOW
- 16-3 advantage on second chance points despite grabbing just eight offensive rebounds. Gave up just three to the Bulldogs which is the second-fewest against a SoCon opponent (2 at Mercer).
- 11-28 from 3pt range (39.3%) pushed the Mocs to 11-0 when making 10 or more threes.
- 54.2 percent shooting making 39 of 72 shots. Third time in the last four road games making 50 percent or better.
Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.
SOCON SCOREBOARD
at ETSU 75, Furman 66
at UNCG 83, Wofford 79 (OT)
at Mercer 106, Samford 66
VMI 74, at Western Carolina 71
MBB UPCOMING GAMES
Feb. 22: Mercer (DH), 4:30 p.m. | Current Rec.: 14-14/8-7 | Next Opp:
at Chattanooga (Feb. 22)
Feb. 26: at VMI, 7 p.m. | Current Rec.: 8-20/3-12 | Next Opp: UNC Greensboro (Feb. 22)
Feb. 29: UNC Greensboro (DH), 4:30 p.m. | Current Rec.: 22-6/12-3 | Next Opp: at VMI (Feb. 22)
*Record entering Saturday's action
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