Mocs Fall Short in 76-71 Loss at ETSU

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (GOMOCS.COM) – The Chattanooga Mocs fell 76-71 Saturday afternoon at ETSU. Greg Pryor’s 21 points led the Mocs, while Desonta Bradford paced four in double digits for the Bucs with 19.

Justin Tuoyo’s three-point play with 40.1 seconds left got the Mocs within three, 72-69. On the ensuing Bucs possession, Pryor fouled Bradford with 25.3 seconds left. He hit both which sent the Mocs rocketing up the floor.

Casey Jones launched a three from the right wing that went in before rattling out. Bradford grabbed the rebound and sank two more free throws. Pryor ended the scoring with two free tosses with 11.4 to go.

It was a see-saw battle that saw eight ties and nine lead changes. The Mocs could not overcome the Bucs 15-rebound advantage or their 16 turnovers. Thirty-four of ETSU’s 76 points came off turnovers (20) or second chance points (14) on the offensive glass.

It marks back-to-back 20-point efforts for Pryor scoring 23 against VMI Wednesday night. Tuoyo added 15 points, three blocks and two steals. Hanner Mosquera-Perea added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Bucs, while Tevin Glass turned in a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. A.J. Merriweather chipped in 13.

ETSU built a seven-point lead on back-to-back alley oop dunks from Mosquera-Perea with 10:39 left in the game. The Mocs answered with a 9-1 run taking the lead, 54-53, on Johnathan Burroughs-Cook’s three from the right wing.

Tuoyo’s layup at 5:36 tied the score at 57-all. Bradford gave his team the lead for good on a 3pt coming off a turnover. It was an eight-point game with 1:33 remaining when Burroughs-Cook started the comeback with a 3pt play at 1:20. Bradford made one of two free throws 25 seconds later before Tuoyo’s and-one to cut it to three.

RECORDS

Chattanooga – 15-6, 6-3 in the SoCon. ETSU – 17-5, 7-2 in league play.

STAT OF THE GAME

The Bucs made 23 free throws which is the same amount the Mocs attempted for the contest. Click the stats link above for a complete look at today’s statistics.

QUOTABLE

“We talked about it before the game that if we kept them off the glass and took care of the ball, then we would win the game. We didn’t do either of those. They had 20 points off our turnovers. When ETSU gets on the break with their athletes that makes them the team that they are, a really good team in this league. Two things we wanted to do in the game, we didn’t do at the end of the day. If we eliminate those numbers, then we would have won the game.” – Coach Matt McCall. For more thoughts from coach and student-athletes, click the quotes link above.

NOTABLE

Pryor’s 21 point vaulted him from 15th to 12th on the DI era scoring list passing the likes of Eric Smith, Tim Parker and Derrick Kirce.

SOCON SCOREBOARD

Samford 69, at VMI 67

Furman 73, at UNCG 67

at Mercer 82, The Citadel 66

Wofford at Western Carolina, 7 p.m.

NEXT UP

Thursday, Feb. 2 vs. UNCG. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m., airing on the WatchESPN app (ESPN3) as well as locally on the airwaves on Real 96.1 FM in Chattanooga. Links to live stats, video and audio (Mocs Sports Network) are on GoMocs.com’s men’s basketball schedule page.