BOX SCORE ∙ NOTES/QUOTES
 
CHATTANOOGA (February 22, 2025) – The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team earned its ninth-straight victory after coming away with a game-ending defensive stop to ultimately survive The Citadel 76-75 in crucial late season Southern Conference action inside McKenzie Arena on Saturday.
 
Entering the day with Division I's sixth-longest winning streak (W8), Chattanooga (21-8, 13-3 SoCon) just couldn't seem to pull away from an always-tough Citadel (5-22, 0-16 SoCon) squad, who entered the contest carrying Division I's longest skid (L18). The Mocs remain one game ahead of UNCG (12-4) in the SoCon regular season standings and will make the trip to Greensboro on Thursday night for the ultimate conference showdown.
 
Despite leading by 14 with under seven minutes left, the Mocs needed a defensive stop on the game's final possession to extend its winning ways and remain alone atop the conference table. UTC's defense initially forced a highly-contest three during the possession, but a loose ball rebound resulted in a quick Bulldogs put-back winner at the buzzer… that fortunately for the Mocs faithful in attendance, was just a second too late after video review.
 
Chattanooga led 41-33 at the halftime break following a buzzer-beating three from Trey Bonham which marked just his first field goal of the opening period. The Citadel responded in the second half by shooting 60.9% (14-of-23) from the floor and out-scoring UTC 42-35 in total, falling just a point and second shy of snapping its lengthy skid.
 
Bash Wieland led the Mocs in scoring with a team-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting while tying a season high in assists with four. Trey Bonham scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half while Honor Huff reached double digits again with 14.

RECORD UPDATE – Chattanooga 21-8, 13-3 SoCon ∙ The Citadel 5-22, 0-16 SoCon
 
SERIES HISTORY – 96th Meeting ∙ Chattanooga leads 75-21 all-time. 
 
FIRST HALF KEY MOMENTS
∙ Chattanooga opened up with a 10-4 (14:17) lead following six quick points from Bash Wieland in the early stages.
∙ Forcing UTC into a cold shooting stretch, The Citadel countered with four makes in five tries to tie the game 20-20 (8:28).
∙ Chattanooga built a 29-22 (5:26) over the next three-plus minutes before the Bulldogs responded with a 9-2 run to cut its deficit to one, 32-31 (2:37).
∙ Trey Bonham knocked down his first field goal of the half with a buzzer-beating triple ahead of the buzzer to give UTC an eight-point lead, 41-33, at the break.

HALF: Chattanooga 41, The Citadel 33 – Nine different Mocs scored in the opening half; UTC shot 51.7% (15-29) from the floor.
 
SECOND HALF KEY MOMENTS
∙ Makai Richards converted an and-one following a successful hook shot in the paint to give the Mocs a 47-40 (16:26) lead.
∙ Wieland finished off an extended possession with a contested lay-in to cap off a 10-2 run and keep UTC ahead, 57-46 (11:56).
∙ Bonham connected on a trio of threes in less than a two-minute span to give UTC its largest lead of the game, 71-57 (6:33).
∙ The Citadel quickly answered with a 14-2 run over four-plus minutes to pull within two, 73-71 (2:30), before controlling the game's final possession with a chance to win it trailing 76-75.

FINAL: Chattanooga 76, The Citadel 75

GAME NOTES ∙ MORE
∙ The nine-game win streak matches the longest overall since opening the 2020-21 campaign with nine… the nine-game SoCon regular season winning streak matches the longest for UTC in a single season since 2015-16.  

∙ The win marked the 900th for Chattanooga as an NCAA Division I program (since 1977-78)… UTC is 900-583 all-time at the DI level… improved to 486-295 all-time in SoCon games.

∙ Chattanooga finished the 2024-25 home slate with a 13-3 record… most home wins in a single season since 2015-16 (13)… 498-152 all-time inside UTC/McKenzie Arena… 34-14 at home in three seasons under Dan Earl.

POSTGAME QUOTES ∙ MORE
HC Dan Earl's opening thoughts after 76-75 win over The Citadel.
"[Give] a ton of credit to Citadel. I didn't expect anything different. They are tough kids, they play extremely physical, Coach Conroy does a wonderful job with them. They've been in a ton of games for a team that hasn't quite gotten over the hump, so we didn't expect anything different, but they play well. I give them a ton of credit. And, you know, we withstood a poor shooting night from some of our shooters, some foul trouble, Frank Champion in particular, um, not being ultras smart on defensive times, and we figured out a way to win."
 
G Bash Wieland on what the Chattanooga program meant to him in his final year.
"Yeah, this year, overall has been just such a blessing. I mean, you're taking a risk when you transfer and just the support that I've received from not only the coaches but also just the team and my teammates who have already been here in Chattanooga, but also the other transfers. Since the start of the summer. It's just been great. We've really supported each other. That means the world where I have friends outside of just basketball, like I'll be friends with them outside and even after basketball."

UP NEXT – Thursday, Feb. 27 – Chattanooga at UNCG – 7 p.m. ET – Greensboro, N.C. – ESPN+
 
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