Honor Huff is helped up by teammates Trey Bonham (2) and Frank Champion (5) after being fouled on a bucket in the second half
photo by Ray Soldano/GoMocs.com
The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team earned its ninth-straight victory after coming away with a game-ending defensive stop to ultimately survive The Citadel 76-75 in crucial late season Southern Conference action inside McKenzie Arena on Saturday.
Entering the day with Division I's sixth-longest winning streak, Chattanooga (21-8, 13-3 SoCon) just couldn't seem to pull away from an always-tough Citadel (5-22, 0-16 SoCon) squad, who entered the contest carrying Division I's longest skid with 18 straight losses.
The Mocs remain one game ahead of UNCG (12-4) in the SoCon regular season standings and will make the trip to Greensboro on Thursday night for the ultimate conference showdown.
Despite leading by 14 with under seven minutes left, the Mocs needed a defensive stop on the game's final possession to extend its winning ways and remain alone atop the conference table. UTC's defense initially forced a highly-contest three during the possession, but a loose ball rebound resulted in a quick Bulldogs put-back winner at the buzzer… that fortunately for the Mocs faithful in attendance, was just a second too late after video review.
Chattanooga led 41-33 at the halftime break following a buzzer-beating three from Trey Bonham which marked just his first field goal of the opening period. The Citadel responded in the second half by shooting 60.9% (14-of-23) from the floor and out-scoring UTC 42-35 in total, falling just a point and second shy of snapping its lengthy skid.
Bash Wieland led the Mocs in scoring with a team-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting while tying a season high in assists with four. Bonham scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half while Honor Huff reached double digits again with 14.
Chattanooga opened up with a 10-4 (14:17) lead following six quick points from Wieland in the early stages. After forcing UTC into a cold shooting stretch, The Citadel countered with four makes in five tries to tie the game 20-20 with 8:28 until halftime.
The Mocs increased the lead back to 29-22 over the next three-plus minutes before the Bulldogs responded with a 9-2 run to cut its deficit to one, 32-31 with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Bonham knocked down his first field goal of the game with a buzzer-beating triple ahead of the buzzer to give UTC an eight-point lead, 41-33, at the break.
Makai Richards had a significant role in the second half, converting an and-one following a successful hook shot in the paint to give the Mocs a 47-40 lead in the early minutes. Minutes later,
Wieland finished off an extended possession with a contested lay-in to cap off a 10-2 run and keep UTC ahead, 57-46 with 11:56 remaining.
Bonham then connected on a trio of threes in less than a two-minute span to give UTC its largest lead of the game, 71-57, to seemingly salt away the win with 6:33 left in the contest.
The Citadel quickly answered with a 14-2 run over four-plus minutes to pull within two, 73-71, with 2:30 remaining before controlling the game's final possession with a chance to win it trailing 76-75.
Brody Fox led four Bulldogs in double figures with a game-high 21 points.
GAME NOTES
The nine-game win streak matches the longest overall since opening the 2020-21 campaign with nine, while the nine-game SoCon regular season winning streak matches the longest for UTC in a single season since 2015-16.
Chattanooga had 20 assists against only six turnovers, the fourth straight game the Mocs have dished out 20 or more assists.
The win marked the 900th for Chattanooga as an NCAA Division I program (since 1977-78). UTC is 900-583 all-time at the DI level and improved to 486-295 all-time in SoCon games.
Chattanooga finished the 2024-25 home slate with a 13-3 record, the most home wins in a single season since 2015-16 (13). The Mocs are now 498-152 all-time inside UTC/McKenzie Arena and 34-14 at home in three seasons under Dan Earl.
The game marked the final home game for five players competing for the Mocs in their final contest at McKenzie Arena. Four of those were transfers here for one season - Frank Champion (North Georgia), Jack Kostel (Alabama-Huntsville), Garrison Keeslar (Walsh) and Wieland (Bellarmine) - while Bonham played his final two seasons at UTC after two years at VMI and one year at Florida.
"This year, overall has been just such a blessing,” Wieland said. “I mean, you're taking a risk when you transfer and just the support that I've received from not only the coaches but also just the team and my teammates who have already been here in Chattanooga, but also the other transfers. Since the start of the summer it's just been great. We've really supported each other. That means the world where I have friends outside of just basketball, like I'll be friends with them outside and even after basketball."
UP NEXT – Thursday, Feb. 27 – Chattanooga at UNCG – 7 p.m. ET – Greensboro, N.C. – ESPN+. The Mocs have a chance to secure the top seed at the SoCon Tournament with a win as UNCG is one game behind. UTC concludes the regular season with a visit to VMI on Feb. 29.