Mocs Beat Covenant College 91-63 in Exhibition Opener

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.— Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball fans gathered in McKenzie Arena to see the home team defeat Covenant 91-63 in an exhibition bout. There were 2,332 in attendance with a large student turnout on a rainy Friday evening.

“I thought the students were awesome,” coach Matt McCall said. “They came out and we need that every night. I think that it is great, and anytime you can get your students out in the arena and making noise, it definitely has an impact on the game.”

The Mocs opened the game with a hot shooting streak from beyond the arc, making their first five to give them a 15-7 early lead over the Scots. An 11-2 run that began at the 7:32 mark, UTC was able to build a 40-26 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the first half.

As four seconds remained in the first half, Justin Tuoyo inbounded the ball to Johnathan Burroughs-Cook after a Covenant free throw, who dribbled up to mid-court and dished the ball to Tre’ McLean at the wing for a buzzer-beating three pointer, giving UTC a 51-29 lead.

“For it to go in, it definitely felt good and sometimes plays at the end of the buzzer, plays like that can be tough at times because you have to calm back down when you go into the locker room,” said McLean, who shot 60 percent (3-for-5) from 3-point range. “We knew that we had to calm back down and go in and focus for the second half.

“Personally, it felt good to see another one go in.”

The second half began with Greg Pryor drawing a hard charge inside the paint, giving UTC the early momentum.

“I thought that to start the game, we were a little too gassed up and missing some assignments defensively, but we sure played a lot harder in the second half,” McCall said. “Our protection and our defense were a little bit sloppy, but it was the first game and it was good to see us get settled out there.”

From there, the Mocs sparked a 20-13 run within the first five minutes to put them up 71-40 after Dee Oldham stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a fast break layup.

With 4:47 remaining, the play of the night came from Chuck Ester, who caught Duke Ethridge’s pass from the three-point line for a two-handed alley-oop slam, increasing UTC’s lead at 85-59, and eventually, the Mocs were able to close the game out for the 27-point win.

Five Mocs recorded double-digit scoring led by Tuoyo with 15. McLean added 13, Eric Robertson chipped in 12 (4-for-7 from 3-point range), while newcomer Burroughs-Cook and senior Casey Jones both recorded 10. Jones also had a team-high eight rebounds and dished out five assists.

“We’ve been going against each other for six months now, so it felt good to go out there and use our offense and defense to see what we need to work on,” Tuoyo said. “The game plan changed when we first started, but as the game went along, everybody settled down after the first half.

“We appreciated the crowd a lot, and having the crowd out there for this game, and we’re definitely looking forward to more of it for the rest of the season.”

From veterans to newcomers, everyone one the roster saw playing time and defensively, UTC was able to keep the Scots to just 36 percent shooting.

Moving on, the Mocs (0-0) travel to Athens, Ga., for a Nov. 13 season-opening matchup against Georgia, with tipoff set for 7 p.m., on the SEC Network. The team’s home debut is the following Monday at 7 p.m., against Hiwassee.