Mocs Beat Western Carolina 91-86 and Earn Sole Possession of First in the SoCon
(gomocs.com)
The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team earned its eighth-straight victory after rallying for a 91-86 victory over Western Carolina during crucial late-season Southern Conference action on Wednesday night inside McKenzie Arena.
After the victory, Chattanooga (20-8, 12-3 SoCon) extended its winning streak to eight games and jumped into sole possession of first place in the SoCon standings following a UNCG (18-10, 11-4 SoCon) loss at ETSU on Wednesday. The win over Western Carolina (8-18, 4-11 SoCon) notched UTC’s 20th, 20-win season as a Division I program (since 1977-78).
WCU used a lethal shooting attack during the first half, knocking down nine threes at a 64.3% clip, to ultimately carry a 47-45 lead into the break. UTC used timely baskets and a rim-rattling dunk from Frank Champion to electrify the crowd down the stretch to help pull away victorious.
The Mocs featured three, 20+ scorers with Honor Huff leading the way on a team-high 27 helped by six triples. Champion nearly notched a triple-double for the third-straight game, finishing with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while surpassing 2,000 career points at the NCAA level. Bash Wieland added 23 points and finished a team-best +12 in 28 minutes.
Chattanooga has three games remaining on its schedule which includes The Citadel at home on Saturday before closing out the regular season on the road at UNCG next Thursday and VMI the following Saturday.
RECORD UPDATE – Chattanooga 20-8, 12-3 SoCon ∙ Western Carolina 8-18, 4-11 SoCon
SERIES HISTORY – 105th Meeting ∙ Chattanooga leads 73-32 all-time.
FIRST HALF KEY MOMENTS
∙ Chattanooga grabbed an early 13-10 (15:08) lead at the first media timeout following a 5-of-8 shooting start from the field.
∙ Western Carolina cut its deficit to one, 16-15 (10:40), after holding the Mocs scoreless for a three-plus minute stretch.
∙ The Catamounts continued to find success on both sides of the floor and built a 23-16 (9:10) lead as UTC’s scoreless stretch continued.
∙ WCU continued to shoot at a high clip from behind the arc, finishing the half 9-of-14 from three, to ultimately earn a two-point edge at the break (47-45).
HALF: Western Carolina 47, Chattanooga 45 – WCU finished the half shooting 16-31 FG (51.6%) & 9-14 3FG (64.3%).
SECOND HALF KEY MOMENTS
∙ Chattanooga opened the second half on a quick 9-3 run to pull ahead 54-50 (16:24) following a successful Frank Champion hook shot near the rim.
∙ Honor Huff knocked down his sixth triple of the night to give the Mocs its largest lead of the night, 61-52 (12:37).
∙ The Catamounts immediately responded with a 15-6 scoring advantage over a four-plus minute stretch to tie the game at 67-67 with 8:22 left in the game.
∙ Tied at 72-72 (6:28), Chattanooga put together a similar 15-5 scoring run to help build an 87-77 (1:55) lead with under two minutes remaining. The run was highlighted by Champion’s thunderous oop off Trey Bonham’s alley which put UTC ahead by eight just a minute prior.
