Junior Nat Dixon’s career-high 14 points led five in double figures in a 74-65 loss at Wyoming. The loss snapped a five-game win streak in season openers for the Mocs.
Dixon’s 14 was supported by James Lewis, Jr., with 12, Rodney Chatman with 11 and 10 apiece from Makinde London and David Jean-Baptiste. Chatman had a team-high nine rebounds.
Hayden Dalton led all scorers with 30 for the Cowboys to go with 13 rebounds. He was 9-17 from the field including 5-9 from 3pt range.
It was a 13-point Wyoming lead with 13:19 to go when the Mocs 7-0 run cut the margin to six, 49-43, with 10:38 left.
The Cowboys threatened to run away from the Scenic City fighters extending the lead back to 11, 51-50, on a Dalton jumper at 5:59.
But the Mocs would not go away. Lewis responded with a three-point play at 5:31. It got back to seven, 63-56, on a Chatman jumper in front of his own bench with three-plus minutes to go, but that’s as close as it would get.
It was a rough start for the Mocs. Up 6-5 on two Duane Moss free throws, the squad went without a point for more than six minutes leading to a 15-0 Cowboy spurt. The lead rose to 16 on two occasions including with 48 seconds to go in the half on Louis Adams’ triple, 40-24.
London answered with a three of his own. After a defensive stop, Chatman’s shot in the final second was off, but Dixon soared along the baseline for the tip-in to send the Mocs into the break with momentum, down 40-29.
““I think as a general rule, we made some improvements from the Francis Marion exhibition game," head coach Lamont Paris said. "I was happy with that. I will watch the tape and see things specifically, but that was just how I felt. Sometimes as coaches you go on gut and I felt like that game was drastically different than this game. We preach growth, and just because we grew in this one doesn’t mean we can’t go backwards in the next one.”
The Mocs remain on the road Monday at UAB for an 8 p.m., Eastern time tipoff. The home opener is less than a week away with Hiwassee visiting on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. That begins a four-game home stretch for the Mocs.