BOX SCORE | QUOTES | NOTES

CHARLESTON, S.C. (January 29) --- The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team picked up its fifth-straight Southern Conference victory after a strong effort on both sides of the ball led to a 75-62 win over The Citadel on Saturday afternoon inside McAlister Field House in Charleston, S.C.
 
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 18-4 overall and remains atop the SoCon standings at 8-1. The Citadel falls to 9-11 overall and 3-6 inside league play.
 
Chattanooga shot just 36.7% (11-of-30) from the floor including a 10.0% (1-of-10) mark in the opening half before responding from the slow start with a 46.9% (15-of-32) field-goal shooting performance in the second half. The Mocs forced 18 Citadel turnovers that led to a 27-4 advantage in points scored off turnovers.
 
"It's a good conference win for us, all of them on the road are. I don't think we played great at times, it took us a while," said head coach Lamont Paris following the game.
 
"I challenged the team that we can play better, but at the same time I'm acknowledging that we went on the road and beat a talented team. I'm happy about that, but we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard with the product we want to put out."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams saw slow offensive starts as the two combined to connect on four of its first 15 attempts the floor, resulting in a 5-4 Citadel lead at the 15:50 mark of the opening half. Chattanooga proceeded to go on a 9-0 run with the help of a Malachi Smith three over the next three-plus minutes to build a 13-5 lead.
 
The Citadel's Hayden Brown answered with four-straight points to cut into the UTC lead at 13-9 (11:49). UTC extended out to a 20-13 lead at the 7:04 mark after Darius Banks added his fifth free throw of the half. As the Mocs continued to struggle from the floor, the Bulldogs went on a 7-2 run to bring it to 22-20 UTC (5:27) while forcing the visitors into a timeout.
 
Chattanooga responded with its second 9-0 run of the first half capped off by a Smith layup to extend its lead to 31-20 with 3:08 remaining. The Citadel cut it to six, 31-25, at the 2:10 mark before the two teams hit the locker rooms separated by eight, 35-27, in favor of UTC.
 
The Mocs shot just 10.0% (1-of-10) from beyond the arc in the first half and ended with a 36.7% (11-of-30) mark from the field in total. The team knocked down 12-of-13 free throws to aid the slow shooting performance. UTC forced 10 Citadel turnovers that turned into 12 points on the offensive end.
 
The second half started with four-straight points from KC Hankton, all four coming inside the paint, to extend the lead to 39-27 in the final 20's first moments. David Jean-Baptiste connected on a pair of threes in the near-side corner to help UTC hold a multi-possession lead, 49-41 with 11:23 left in the contest.
 
The lead grew to 54-41 (10:37) on a Smith jumper which stemmed from a Citadel turnover before the hosts came back with five-straight quick points to bring it to 54-46 at the 8:56 mark. The Mocs went on a 14-5 run over the next four minutes as Smith threw down a breakaway dunk that proved to be the dagger as the advantage grew to 68-51 (4:45).
 
The two teams traded scores down the stretch as Chattanooga clinched its fifth-straight victory behind a 75-62 final tally. The Mocs responded from the poor first half shooting effort with a 53.8% (14-of-26) effort from the floor in the second half and rounded out the game with a 40.7% (24-of-59) field-goal percentage.
 
The difference in the game was heavily influenced by the turnover category as UTC forced 18 Citadel turnovers that resulted in a sizable 27-4 advantage in points scored off turnovers. In addition, the Mocs bench outscored the Bulldogs reserves by a 23-7 margin.

RECORDS – Chattanooga (18-4, 8-1 SoCon) – The Citadel (9-11, 3-6 SoCon)
 
SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 70-19 which includes a 31-13 mark in Charleston.

NOTES TO KNOW
- 90 percent from the free throw line making 18 of 20… third time in last four games making 90 percent or better… only Mocs team of the DI era with three games making 90% or better while attempting at least 20 in a game.
 
- 8-1 in the SoCon… 7th time winning eight of first nine league games (1982-83, 1986-87, 1991-92, 1992-93, 2013-14, 2015-16)… best start all-time was 10-0 in 1981-82 finishing the year at 15-1 which was matched the next season as well.
 
- 11th win by double-digit margin in 2021-22… most since 15 in 2016-17… the '17 team's first 13 wins were all by double figures… 36-3 all-time when the final margin is 10 or more against the Bulldogs.

Check out all the notes at the link above.

QUOTABLE
"It's a funny answer. It's really close, really close, but it's hard to get to where we need to get to. That last yard is so hard to get. You're close to your goal, but it's so hard to get there. You have to do some extra things. With what happens to most people and groups, this is good enough. It's easy to say that. I'm asking these guys to do a little more to go just a little bit further. I do think we're close." – Lamont Paris on if this team is close to reaching its full potential.
 
"I'll take that. That's a big deal and hopefully we can keep it going. We don't want to lose anymore. I feel like we took care of business down the stretch. We knew they can come back at any time. We find ways to win and we want to keep doing that." – Avery Diggs on improving to 18-4 overall and 8-1 in SoCon.

Check out all the quotes at the link above.
 
UP NEXT – Chattanooga at Samford – Wed., Feb. 2 – 8PM ET – 2021-22 Schedule

SOCON SCOREBOARD
at VMI 83, ETSU 79
Samford 74, at Western Carolina 64
Furman at Mercer – 6 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
UNCG at Wofford – 7 p.m. ET

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