Mocs Drop to 0-3 in the SoCon After 78-67 Loss to Furman
(gomocs.com) – Shorthanded due to injuries yet again, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team suffered a lengthy first-half scoring drought before ultimately falling 78-67 to Furman during Southern Conference action inside McKenzie Arena on Wednesday night in front of a nationally televised audience on CBS Sports Network.
Following the defeat, Chattanooga drops to 6-10 overall and begins Southern Conference play 0-3 for just the fifth time in 49 seasons and for the first time since the 2020-21 season. Furman posted its first double-digit win inside the Roundhouse since 2019 and improved to 11-5 overall and 2-1 inside the league.
Chattanooga entered the contest missing key forwards Collin Mulholland (lower body) and Sebastian Hartmann (lower body) while welcoming the return of forward Latif Diouf (lower body), who returned to action for the first time since December 17. The Mocs are also looking to overcome season-ending injuries to forwards Sean Cusano and Liam Vitters.
Game Breakdown
Tate Darner came out firing with a pair of early threes before Billy Smith added a triple to give Chattanooga an early 13-6 lead at the 14:38 mark of the opening half. After Furman rallied to tie things 15-15, Teddy Washington Jr. and Smith each converted contested bunnies to put UTC ahead 19-15 (11:10) and force Furman into a timeout.
Furman’s Tom House caught fire from behind the arc over the next few minutes as back-to-back deep balls put the guests ahead 33-30 with 3:40 left in the half. The Mocs offense failed to score over the final 5:36 of the first half and surrendered a 15-0 scoring run to the Paladins, ultimately entering the break trailing by nine, 39-30.
The Paladins built a lead as large as 15, 48-33 (16:48), before Chattanooga answered with a strong offensive push that cut its deficit down to just seven, 56-49, with 9:12 left in the game. Jordan Frison knocked down consecutive threes to awake the Roundhouse crowd and once again cut the separation to seven, 63-56, with 6:30 on the board.
Furman answered every Chattanooga threat down the stretch and maintained a safe distance with a lead that never dwindled to less than nine. The Paladins eventually walked out of McKenzie Arena with a 78-67 road victory to post its first double-digit victory inside the venue since 2019.
