The Chattanooga Mocs took a 72-52 Southern Conference loss at UNC Greensboro Saturday night. It’s a tough pill to swallow after the Mocs came back from an 11-point deficit to take a brief second half advantage.
David Jean-Baptiste capped a 15-3 run turning a 42-31 score into 46-45 with 11:56 to play. It was an impressive stretch after the hole dug with the early turnover bug.
"We overcame that,” Coach Lamon Paris said. “It did kill us at the end of the day, but it's a cumulative score.
If you could throw out scores in the first half or second half, you would. We overcame that, took the lead, and then more of the same happened. That's what was frustrating.
“You figure out how to stop it and then you allow it to happen again. "
The Spartans jumped back in front led by Isaiah Miller. He scored 18 of his game-high 26 in the second half. He pushed the lead back to nine, 58-49, with a three at 6:31. Ramon Vila, who paced the Mocs with 15, answered with his sixth basket in the low block. It was a manageable seven-point margin, 58-51, with just over six minutes to go.
That’s the last field goal Chattanooga scored with just an Ashton Smith free throw in the final minute adding to the tally. UNCG out-scored their guests 14-1 the rest of the way. In the final 12 possessions, the Mocs went 0-7 from the field, 1-7 from the line and had three turnovers.
"It showed that we can play with the best teams in the conference,” Junior guard David Jean-Baptiste shared. “It shows we can play right there with them. It's just when adversity hits, you have to stay the course. Once they got the lead back, we took some questionable shots, had some good looks that didn't fall, and they made some good plays."
It’s right back home for the Mocs hosting The Citadel Wednesday night in the Roundhouse. Game time is at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the link above or consider the new “All You Can Eat” option. The squad heads back out for the next two at ETSU (Jan. 25) and Samford (Jan. 29).