CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (1-3) led in the second half for the third straight game but could not hold off Troy (2-2) losing 68-61 in the CBE Classic Chattanooga Sub-Regional. Ronrico White led the Mocs with a game-high 14 points in the loss.
Chattanooga opened the second half out-scoring the Trojans 23-12 over the first nine-and-half-minutes on two free throws by Farad Cobb. The Mocs got points from seven different student-athletes and looked to be firmly in control.
It took two trips to erase the deficit. R.J. Scott buried back-to-back three-pointers to even the score at 48-all. That fueled a 14-1 run capped by a Deonata Jethroe three that put the Trojans up 56-49 with 5:20 to play.
Two free throws from Z. Mason and a put-back from Drazen Zlovaric cut the lead to three, 61-58, with 1:42 to go. But that’s as close as the Mocs would get. The Trojans hit five of six free throws in the final 30 seconds to cement the win.
Zlovaric posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mason added nine boards of his own as the Mocs owned the glass with a 47-30 advantage.
Antoine Myers paced the Trojans with 13 points, four assists and three steals. Scott and Hunter Williams chipped in 12 points apiece, while Jethroe tossed in 11.
Free throw shooting was a bugaboo for the Chattanooga squad. The team made 15 of 26 free throws (57.7%). The first half was key as UTC made just four of 13 (30.8%).
The Mocs close out the CBE Classic Chattanooga Sub-Regional Tuesday night with Louisiana Tech at 7:00 p.m. (E.S.T). La Tech owns win over Troy (70-46) and Southeast Missouri (67-63) in the tourney.
