The Citadel at Chattanooga
Monday, Feb. 15, 2021
Chattanooga, Tenn. – McKenzie Arena
Postgame Quotes

Lamont Paris, Head Coach
Opening statement after crazy win over ETSU.
"What a gritty performance and a tough fought game by both sides, and it came down to the wire in this one just like it did in the first one. There's been some drama between these two teams. How exciting. I guess we were both just trying to give the fans their money's worth. What a college basketball game. It looked like a rock fight out there. Nobody could get a lot generated offensively so it came down to who was going to make a big play or who was going to make a couple mistakes on the defensive end."
 
On the timeout before ETSU's made 3-pointer late.
"They shot a shot there at the end, and had called a timeout thankfully. I was so enthralled in the moment of not getting the rebound, that I wasn't even focused on that quite as much. It's just one of those things ... like in the NFL when they call a timeout right before a field goal kicker kicks it. Just a weird scenario. It's really a heads-up play to be honest with you [to call the timeout.] Look at the shot that they generated at the end, and guys get frazzled sometimes in those moments, so it's really a heads-up play on [ETSU's coach] part."
 
On the defensive effort.
"I can't say enough, to hold those guys to 51 points. What an effort. They've got some athletic guys that create for themselves, some guys that can get hot. They've been playing well. They came in here with a lot of confidence offensively. The job that our guys did defensively, it's hard to even measure it. And in this recent stretch, that's been our identity, to put your hard hat on and defend guys. When you play defense like that and secure your defensive rebounds, it gives you a chance."

On current winning streak.
"I think a lot of things are coming together. One is just from a personnel standpoint. We've only had the same lineup three games. Three games are the most consecutive games with the same line-up. I've never been around that. We are getting use to each other and what we do, settling in on coverage defensively. And really, just some guys being dudes, sitting down and guarding somebody, being determined to get through screens against a good player, determined and not easily discouraged."
 
On comparing streak to tournament-style basketball.
"It's bang, bang, bang. We did this once earlier in this season for a three or four game stretch. We respond really well to it. It gives you the flavor of a tournament in terms of game over, then on to the next. I told them you don't have a lot of time to celebrate it. I hope you do enjoy it, but it's game over, who's next? That's a hard mindset to get into. But that's how it is in any sort of tournament."

A.J. Caldwell, RS-Jr.-G
On the near ETSU game-winner.
"That was a little insane. We gave up that offensive rebound which hurt us, but when he shot that in the corner, I thought it wasn't going in because I played good enough defense. But oddly enough we came back out and I think he even had a better look. Fortunately for us it rimmed out. We have to do a better job rebounding, but we're fortunate to get the win."
 
On the quick turnarounds.
"I think it's tough on everyone. Everyone is doing the same thing with COVID, I think it benefits us a little bit with the way we play and defend. It's a little easier when you're winning. When you're able to keep things going, it makes it easier to come to practice everyday and get up for these games."
 
On the team defensive effort.
"Anytime you can hold someone to 50, you're in really good shape, and obviously they did that to us too. We didn't play great offensively, but we did enough there. Our defense carried us to a win. They came in hot and we did a really good job against them. To be able to hold a team like that to 50 or so, it's huge for us. We see what we're capable of and the confidence is the biggest thing. Everyone is happy with their roles and bought it. It's great to be clicking at the right time."
 
David Jean-Baptiste, Sr.-G
On the craziness at the end of regulation.
"It all happened so fast. I heard the whistle and it was just all so fast. Then I saw they called timeout and we had to hold our breath for another possession. It was definitely a moment, a hold your breath type of moment. It was crazy."
 
On the team coming together defensively.
"That's one thing we've been harping on lately. Just playing hard on defense and competing. Offense wasn't going our way today but we held that good of a team to 51 points. That's one thing we pride ourselves on and it showed tonight."
 
On the team's confidence moving forward.
"All for the city. ETSU has great players every year, they're well-coached. The confidence is growing in this team. It's a special group. We're competing and playing every possession. To win against a really good team, we're just trying to keep it going. It's fun coming in every day to practice. It's all fun. We're ready to compete every day and we love it. This group is coming together at the right time and the confidence is great to see."