Mocs Make Quick Work of Hiwassee in Season Opener

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—One of the core values of the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team is “unselfishness”. You could tell Friday night in McKenzie Arena just how important that is to this year’s squad in a 110-53 season opening win over Hiwassee.

Six Mocs scored in double figures led by Greg Pryor and Duke Ethridge with 13 apiece. Casey Jones added 12 points. The Tigers, who fell to 0-7, was paced by Joel Bailey with 14.

“We had six guys in double figures and three more with I think nine, so that’s what we want,” coach Will Wade shared after the game. “We don’t want to be so reliant on one person. We were very reliant on one person last season, and we don’t want to be like that this year. It was nice to see the balance with the guys that way you never know who’s going to be able to step up or who’s going to be able to make plays each night.

“You want to see that balance, and we had that tonight.”

Chattanooga scored the game’s first nine points and never looked back. Justin Tuoyo got it started with a three-point play on a strong move to the basket. Pryor made a steal on the in-bounds play and buried a three-pointer to get the Mocs moving.

Leading 29-15 with just under 10 minutes to go in the half, Chattanooga went on a 17-2 run to see its lead swell to 29, 46-17, on Eric Robertson’s jumper at 5:41. It out-scored the Tigers 26-4 to go into intermission with a 62-21 advantage courtesy of a thunderous Ethridge alley-oop slam on a feed from Robertson.

The lead reached 49, 74-25, on Ronrico White’s three-pointer at 15:49. Hiwassee trimmed it to 38, 83-45, after Joel Bailey’s three at 10:58. But it was all Mocs from there. Tre’ McLean’s jumper at 9:24 made it 40 for good. Alex Bran drilled a three-pointer at 2:40 to push the lead past 50. Robertson ended the scoring with a three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining.

Tuoyo dominated the boards earning his first double-double with 11 points and 13 boards. The Mocs doubled up their visitors on the glass 54 to 27. Robertson and Shaq Preston each posted 11 points as nine Mocs had nine or more points this evening.

“I thought everybody played well,” Wade added. “I was really pleased with Greg Pryor. I thought he showed the growth he had all summer. He played extremely well.

“It was good to have Justin out there,” he continued. “I think people can see he’s a difference maker for us in a number of ways. He had 13 rebounds, seven offensive, and that’s what he does. He kind of cleans up the garbage around the rim…high-energy, high-activity level around the rim.”