CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Z. Mason and Drazen Zlovaric led the Chattanooga Mocs (1-0) to an 88-53 win over Tennessee Temple (2-2) Monday night in McKenzie Arena. Mason had a game-high 16 points, while Zlovaric added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Farad Cobb stole the show, literally. His six steals on the night set a new UTC freshman record breaking the four previously held by seven other Mocs student-athletes. That list includes teammate Ronrico White and assistant coach Casey Long (2004-07).
The Crusaders were led by Mack Hampton’s 12 points and five rebounds. Weedlens Beauvil added 11 points, while Joe Quinn and John Reik each chipped in five boards as well.
Chattanooga scored the first nine points of the game before a Mack Hampton free throw got the Crusaders on the board. With the score at 14-5, the Mocs went on a 9-2 run with Mason and Zlovaric capping it with back-to-back scores to push the lead to 23-7.
Consecutive Crusader three-pointers by Travaris Clarke and Weedlens Beauvil cut the lead to 10, 23-13, but that’s as close as it would get. UTC methodically built its lead to 19 heading into intermission on a nice fade-away jumper in the paint by Mason as the final seconds ticked away in the half.
Zlovaric and Mason opened the second half with baskets to get the lead to 23. It went to 30, 68-38, on Lance Stokes’ layup with 8:33 to play. The largest lead was 39, 84-45, with Martynas Bareika’s lay-in at 2:08.
Cobb’s six steals paced Chattanooga to 23 on the night, a new school record. Cobb and his teammates forced 35 TTU turnovers scoring 44 points off the miscues.
It was a balanced effort on the tally books for the Mocs. Nine players scored six or more points. There were 42 points scored in the paint as the UTC post players accounted for 48 points and 25 rebounds.
Chattanooga dominated the glass, 49-28, against an unusually tall group from an NCCAA opponent including two seven-footers. UTC’s 25 offensive rebounds were just three less than TTU’s total on the boards.
The Mocs travel to No. 7 Kansas Thursday for an 8 p.m., tilt with the Jayhawks. The contest is on the Jayhawk Network and can be accessed via ESPN3.com.
