Jean-Baptiste, Kenic with career days in Mocs win over NKU

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (UTC Athletics) — The Chattanooga Mocs used a strong second-half surge for the second game in a row to claim victory, 79-72 over visiting Northern Kentucky. The Mocs broke open a see-saw affair mid-way through the second frame rather than waiting until the end like last Monday.

David Jean-Baptiste tallied seven of his career-high-tying 25 during a 13-0 spurt taking a 46-44 advantage to 59-44 at 8:58. The final four points came from Josh Ayeni’s two free throws. He scored on the previous possession off a nice pass from Stefan Kenić bulling his way around the block.

in the post @jonzingghff!! pic.twitter.com/nlLiOEBuRX

— Chattanooga Mocs MBB (@GoMocsMBB) December 5, 2020

Ayeni ended up with a season-high 14 points. Kenić also had a season best with 17 points while racking up a career-high seven assists. Marques Warrick and Trevon Faulkner led the Norse with 13 points apiece.

The lead reached 16 twice, once on a Malachi Smith layup at 5:11, and again 44 seconds later via a Jean-Baptiste jumper. The Norse did not let the Mocs come in on cruise control.

Back-to-back threes from David Bohm and Bryson Langdon followed by Trey Robinson’s steal and layup quickly sliced the advantage in half with 3:18 to go, 70-62. Robinson missed the and-1 attempt quickly got it back into double digits where the lead stayed until Adham Eleeda’s three with four seconds remaining provided the final margin of seven, 79-72.

“I didn’t really change much,” Jean-Baptiste said about his play in the postgame press conference. “It was just knowing when to attack and when to press off the gas a little. Not much changed between the first half and second, it was just when to put my foot on the gas and when to take it off.”

Kenić echoed the Miami native’s take, “Most of them were in the second half when they started pressuring us. He was calm, he was making open threes, he was going to the rim. He had an and-1, made the free throw…it was a big-time play for us.”

Jean-Baptiste scored 21 of his 25 in the second half with Ayeni also stepping up production with 10 of 14 after intermission.

Today’s game started a busy stretch of four from Saturday to Saturday this week. The Mocs hit the road to Middle Tennessee on Monday and Bellarmine Wednesday before returning home to host North Georgia next weekend. Links for video, audio and live stats for each contest is located on the men’s basketball schedule page.

“At this time of the year, I think ultimately you’d like it to be 90 percent of what you do and 10 percent of what the other team is doing,” Coach Lamont Paris shared. “We’re not quite to that level right now, we’re probably around 75-25.

“We’ll spend a lot of time on us and then we’ll give them a couple nuggets on MTSU, but we’ll spend most of our time on us and how we can improve what we do.”

RECORDS
Chattanooga 3-0 | Northern Kentucky 2-1

QUOTABLE
“I thought we were pretty solid on the defensive end in the first half, but we didn’t finish plays off with defensive rebounds. I think we just did a better job of encouraging them to take the shots that we are willing to take. No one has pitched a shutout in a basketball game in this era. They were going to score some, and they did most of it on stuff that we were willing to have them do, and we accepted that. That was a big part of it. I thought, offensively, we did a good job of getting the ball in certain situations and converting. I thought we didn’t do a good job in the first half converting.” – Paris on 1st & 2nd half difference

“I thought he played at a really good pace. I thought his shot selection was much better. We need him to be an active cog in the wheel that we have on the offensive end…and maybe one of the bigger ones. He’s capable of doing a lot of different things and handling a lot of pressure. That kind of performance, it’s a winning performance.” – Paris on Jean-Baptiste’s impact

“It’s definitely different. Last year I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to play. I think I missed six games which is a lot. This year, the team has been together all the time. We practice together all the time. It has made me feel more comfortable and ready for the season.” – Kenić on the difference from last year to this year

Check out all we heard at the link above.

3 NOTES TO KNOW
– 15th time the Mocs have started a season 3-0. The last was 2015-16 winning at Georgia and Illinois around a home win over Hiwassee. Streak was stopped at No. 4 Iowa State.
– First win over a Horizon League opponent (1-2). Now 9-4 vs. Northern Kentucky. The previous matchups came with the Norse in DII battles from 1972-77 and most recently when they were a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
– 100th career game for David Jean-Baptiste.
Check out all the notables at the link above.

3 STATS TO KNOW
– 29-13 advantage in points off turnovers with a +8 turnover margin giving up 13 but forcing 21 Norse miscues.
– 58.1 percent shooting in the second half (18-31). The 49 second half points marks the third time in six halves with 49 or more over a 20-minute span this season.
– 28 FG made INSIDE the are the most by the Mocs against a DI opponent since 29 in the 125-85 triumph over The Citadel on Feb. 1, 2016 (39 FG/10 3pt). 58.3% (28-48) on 2pt attempts today. That aided the Mocs 48-36 advantage on points in the paint.
Take a deeper dive into the numbers at the link above.

SOCON SCOREBOARD
at Mercer 88, Columbia International 62
at The Citadel 100, Toccoa Falls 58
Furman 81, at College of Charleston 57
Samford at Belmont, 5 p.m.