The midseason struggles continue for the Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team.
Facing the Wofford Terriors at McKenzie Arena on Wednesday night in hopes of breaking a three-game losing streak, it was the same song, fourth verse as the Mocs came out on the short end of an 85-80 score.
Wofford improves to 12-10 overall and 4-5 in the Southern Conference by snapping a two-game losing streak while Chattanooga is now 11-11 overall and 3-6 with its fourth straight loss, including three in a row at McKenzie.
It was the second straight game where the Mocs had to play with their best player on the bench in street clothes. Jake Stephens, the leading scorer and leading rebounder for the Mocs and the conference overall, had to watch from the side while nursing an undisclosed injury to his right hand.
The Mocs played much better on Wednesday than they did on Saturday and it was a much closer game, but there are no moral victories in college basketball, so “closer” and “better” don’t mean much.
Trailing by six at 36-30 when the halftime horn sounded, the Mocs made a run in the final 20 minutes.
A 3 from the key by Jamal Johnson with 13:49 left to play knotted the score at 47-47 while a long one from a similar spot by Dalvin White gave the Mocs their final lead at 53-49 with 11:42 to play.
The Terriors then went on a 9-0 run in the next three minutes for a 58-53 lead and they never trailed again.
Six straight points by the Mocs in the final two minutes, including buckets from Sam Alexis, Demetrius Davis and Johnson, cut the gap to 80-78 with 28.4 seconds to play, but the Terriors put the game away by sinking five of six from the free throw line in the last 24 seconds.
UTC coach Dan Earl certainly didn’t make any excuses for his team in his post-game comments.
“That was another tough loss where we weren’t able to get stops late when we needed them,” he said afterward.
“We also had some costly turnovers, but at least we competed tonight. We just have to keep our heads held high as there’s still a lot of basketball to be played.
“We need everyone to play as hard as possible when they’re on the floor and we have to be tougher on defense. We played with a lot more confidence tonight and I think we took a step in the right direction, but we just hope to get back on the winning track soon.
“It’s tough to lose three straight at home, but we just hope the road will be good for us. We’re still trying to tweak what we’re doing without Jake in there,” Earl added.
Wofford finished the game with five players in double figures, including freshman Jackson Paveletzke with 21. Carson McCorkle sank five of six shots from long range and was next with 15.
Big B.J. Mack was next with 14 points while Messiah Jones and Jackson Sivills contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Johnson led the Mocs with 22 points, including 11 in each half. Khristion Courseault followed with 14 while White finished the game with 13 points.
Davis added 10 while K.C. Hankton was next with nine.
One bright spot for the Mocs including both Johnson and White surpassing 1,000 points for their college careers.
The Mocs also had a 36-32 advantage in rebounds as Sam Alexis grabbed nine for the Mocs. Hankton and Johnson both had five for Chattanooga while Mack was tops for Wofford with eight.
The Mocs hit the road for their next three games, including a stop in Johnson City on Saturday to face East Tennessee State.
After games at Furman and Western Carolina, the Mocs return home on Feb. 8 to face The Citadel. Wofford’s next game will be at home Saturday to face league-leading Samford.
The Mocs had won all 10 games this season when they scored at least 80 points, but that streak also ended on Wednesday.
WOFFORD (85) – Jones 13, Mack 14, Sivills 10, Paveletzke 21, Tripp 1, Tice 3, Silas, Filewich 6, McCorkle 15, Martin 2.
CHATTANOOGA (80) – Hankton 9, Davis 10, Caldwell, Johnson 22, White 13, Alexis 6, Courseault 14, Brady, Walker 4, Robinson 2.
FIELD GOALS: Wofford 29 of 62 for 46.8 percent; Chattanooga 26 of 58 for 44.8 percent.
3-POINT GOALS: Wofford 13 of 29 for 44.8 percent (Mack 2-7, Sivills 2-4, Paveletzke 3-6, Tripp 0-4, Tice 1-1, Silas 0-1, McCorkle 5-6); Chattanooga 10 of 26 for 38.5 percent (Davis 1-4, Caldwell 0-1, Johnson 4-8, White 4-7, Courseault 1-3, Brady 0-1, Walker 0-2).
FREE THROWS: Wofford 14 of 15 for 93.3 percent; Chattanooga 18 of 24 for 75.0 percent.
REBOUNDS: Wofford 32 (Mack 8, Jones 6); Chattanooga 36 (Alexis 9, Hankton 5, Johnson 5).
ASSISTS: Wofford 16 (Paveletzke 6, Filewich 3); Chattanooga 14 (Courseault 4, White 3).
TURNOVERS: Wofford 10 (Sivills 2, Silas 2); Chattanooga 13 (Davis 4, Johnson 3).
STEALS: Wofford 9 (Mack 3, Jones 2); Chattanooga 4 (Brady 2).
BLOCKS: Wofford 2 (Jones, Martin); Chattanooga 4 (Davis 2, Alexis, Courseault).
HALFTIME SCORE: Wofford, 36-30.
ATTENDANCE: 2,908.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)