DAYTON, Ohio - Greg Pryor was right where he wanted to be Saturday night as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team attempted to knock off Dayton in front of 12,425 fans at UD Arena.
On the court with the ball in his hands.
Pryor made play after play after play in the Mocs' 61-59 win, capped by a pair of free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining for the final margin. He finished with 15 points, all in the final 13:32, and added four assists with only two turnovers as the Mocs ended the Flyers' streak of home wins at 26.
No one believed Pryor was going to miss those free throws - at least no one wearing blue and gold.
"I knew those were cash money," UTC junior forward Tre' McLean said. "As much time as he has put in the gym, I knew they were going in."
Now the Mocs (7-2) - whose RPI jumped to 27 with the win over Dayton (7-2) - are home for three straight games, starting Tuesday against Tennessee Tech.
Pryor came to UTC as an off-the-radar prospect - his only prior scholarship offer coming out of Ridgeway High School in Memphis in 2013 was from Alcorn State. He has started every game he was available for in his three-year career except one, a lopsided victory over Tennessee Wesleyan last week.
The reason? He was studying for a final exam and was late to a team meeting.
With senior standout Casey Jones out against Dayton (and indefinitely) because of an ankle injury suffered in practice Friday, Pryor seemed a likely candidate to take on even more leadership than normal. After all, as the point guard, one has to assume that role.
After Saturday's game, he spoke like someone ready to lead.
"These are the games that, as a basketball player, you live for," Pryor said. "You want to come in and dominate your opponent, but when it comes down to the wire, what you've worked on shows. Everything matters and you can't slip at all; if you make one mistake, they can capitalize on it.
"The team that plays the cleanest and smartest, and does what they do best, that's the team that comes out with the win."
First-year UTC coach Matt McCall has said he expects a lot out of his point guard, which is why he chose to not start Pryor against Tennessee Wesleyan. The 6-foot-2 junior has been held to a higher standard, and he feels comfortable with that.
"It's glorifying to know that everything you work on in the offseason pays off when it's supposed to," Pryor said. "Things are not going to fall in your favor every time, but as long as you know that you put in the work ahead of time, you'll have faith when it comes down to it.
"I have faith every time I step up to do anything on the floor because I know I've worked hard to be able to do it."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter.com @genehenleytfp.