A.J. Caldwell Hits Buzzer Beater as Mocs Beat Mercer 74-72 in OT

(gomocs.com) MACON, Ga. (February 7) — A.J. Caldwell did it again. Down 72-71 on the final possession, Caldwell connected on a buzzer-beating three in the corner off a pass from Malachi Smith to lift the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team to a thrilling 74-72 road victory over Mercer in Southern Conference action on Monday evening in Hawkins Arena.

Following the win, Chattanooga picks up its 20^th win of the season and improves to 20-5 overall and 10-2 in SoCon play. Mercer falls to 13-12 overall and 6-6 in the league. With a Furman (9-4) loss at ETSU on Monday, UTC is now a game-and-a-half up in the race atop the standings.

The ability to knock down a game-winner is nothing new for the icy-veined Caldwell. Almost a year ago to the day (February 6, 2021), Caldwell hit a buzzer-beating three in Johnson City to down ETSU last season.

“Not sure what to say after that one. These are the days where I’m always going to look back and remember why I love doing my job. What an awesome game,” said head coach Lamont Paris.

“We had good movement and Malachi was moving downhill with a purpose. What a big time pass from him. Creating and delivering for A.J. to hit that shot, that was such a big time play from Malachi.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Malachi Smith opened with an uncontested layup on the first possession of the game before the Bears grabbed an early 6-5 lead at the first media timeout (15:55). Turnovers proved costly early on as UTC turned the ball over five times in the first six-plus minutes of the game as Mercer extended out to a 14-7 lead at the 10:48 mark.

Chattanooga pulled within four, 18-14 (7:26), on an A.J. Caldwell bucket in the paint ahead of the next media whistle. The hosts would score seven of the next 11 points on the help of multiple offensive rebounds to build a 25-18 edge with 4:36 left in the opening half.

The two teams traded baskets to close the first half as Mercer hit the locker rooms with a 31-24 lead. UTC shot just 14.3% (1-of-7) from three in the first half while seeing a strong 19-12 disadvantage on the glass.

After the Bears scored the first four points of the half, Chattanooga battled back to pull within six, 37-31 (14:41) after five quick points from big man Avery Diggs. Diggs continued the offensive output over the next few minutes, scoring his seventh point of the half to cut it to five, 42-37 (11:34).

Trailing 46-37, the Mocs went on an 8-0 run that was capped off by a Smith and-one to cut the deficit to just one, 46-45 (7:50). Mercer quickly responded with seven unanswered points in just over a minute-and-a-half to grow its lead to 53-45 with 6:16 remaining in the game.

Down 62-59 on potentially the final possession of the game, David Jean-Baptiste drew a foul behind the arc and knocked down all three with 6.0 seconds left to tie the game. On the ensuing in-bounds play, Mercer turned the ball over after stepping out of bounds with about five seconds on the clock.

Caldwell inbounded the ball to Smith who couldn’t finish a contested layup before the final horn as the game went to overtime, 62-62, for the second time in as many matchups in Macon. Jean-Baptiste knocked down a crucial three with 2:52 to go in overtime to put the Mocs ahead 68-64.

With Chattanooga leading 71-70 with 20.0 seconds remaining, Grant Ledford broke free from the defense but couldn’t finish the lay-in. Mercer took the rebound and immediately connected on a dunk to take a 72-71 lead with nine seconds.

As history has proven before, the Mocs looked to Caldwell for the dagger. Smith shook off a defender at the top of the key, drove, and kicked to a wide-open Caldwell in the corner for a buzzer-beating three, sending Chattanooga home with a thrilling 74-72 overtime victory.

It marked the second-straight game where UTC saw a career night from one of its bigs in replace of an injured Silvio De Sousa. Diggs was phenomenal on the offensive side, scoring a career-high 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting with 17 of the points coming in the second half and overtime. Smith and Jean-Baptiste each finished with 15 points while Darius Banks added 10 in the victory.

RECORDS – Chattanooga (20-5, 10-2 SoCon) – Mercer (13-12, 6-6 SoCon)

SERIES – Chattanooga now leads the all-time series 43-41 and sweeps the regular season series.

NOTES TO KNOW
– Career-high 21 points by Diggs besting prior high of 13 from earlier this season against Covenant… tied season high of five rebounds playing 20:55 of the 45 minutes tonight… Mocs were +13 with him on the floor… fourth double-digit scoring game of the season…raised his field goal percentage to 68.0 (51-75).

– Buzzer-beater (0.1 seconds) three by A.J. Caldwell was the second of his career…the last was 366 days ago beating ETSU in Johnson City on Feb. 6, 2021…that was less dramatic since it came at the regulation but in a similar vane with the hosts taking a late lead coming from behind in the final seconds only for Caldwell to shock the road crowd.

– Eighth team in the country to reach 20 wins joining Auburn, Murray State, Providence, Houston, Belmont, Purdue and South Dakota State…there are three other 19-win teams playing for 20th triumph still tonight: Arizona (at Arizona State) & Kansas (at Texas).

QUOTABLE
“It’s a tremendous asset to have bodies capable and bodies that you trust out there. It’s an advantage, especially when guys have different skill sets and are comfortable and confident in what they do. They have a different game and they’re comfortable with it. It’s a great asset to have those guys.” – head coach Lamont Paris on the play from Avery Diggs & Josh Ayeni.

“Coach said it in the locker room. The easiest thing about that play was making the shot. I shoot that shot all the time. Malachi made a really, really good play that showed how high of a level a player he is. This shot was a little easier than last years but shout out Malachi. What a play that was.” – A.J. Caldwell on hitting the game winner.

UP NEXT – Chattanooga vs. Western Carolina – Wed., Feb. 9 – 7PM ET