Before hitting the biggest shots of their University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball careers Thursday night, Tre' McLean and Duke Ethridge were a combined 16-for-87 from 3-point range.
Now each of their percentages has gone up, and the Mocs were able to defeat Virginia Military Institute 86-82 in double-overtime in Lexington, Va.
McLean hadn't made a 3-pointer since Dec. 29 against Lipscomb. He'd missed his next 19 attempts before hitting a 3 from the corner on the first possession of the second overtime. Ethridge followed with one that beat the shot clock with 1:27 remaining, giving the Mocs an 84-79 lead.
Throw in a triple by Chuck Ester in the second half, which gave the Mocs their first lead since the 9:14 mark of the first half, and it was a clutch night for three guys who average a combined 12.5 points per game.
"We needed everyone tonight," UTC coach Will Wade said. "To Tre's credit, he sits in there and shoots every day and Duke gets extra shots up every day. We needed everyone's contributions tonight. We needed a little bit from everybody.
"Any time you get four guys in double figures, that bodes well for you. Our guys did enough. We'll get what we need corrected, and we'll move on from there."
Eric Robertson led the team with 19 points. Casey Jones added 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Ronrico White had 15 points, six assists and six rebounds. Greg Pryor added 13 points and five assists, and everybody who played for the Mocs contributed in some way.
Aside from the clutch 3-point shooting, the Mocs benefited from a solid defensive effort in the second half and both overtimes against VMI, who shot 36 percent from the field in the final 30 minutes -- including a 2-for-15 showing from 3-point range. The Keydets had 59 made 3-point baskets in their previous three games but were limited to six in 24 attempts against the Mocs.
"VMI has improved since the last time we played them," Jones said. "They've been playing really well. They had guys who made eight 3s in a game, three of them that were back-to-back. We played a good team that's getting better, so we toughed it out on the road and we pulled it out. They didn't get off at the 3-point line like they do against other teams, so that's one of the positives we can take away from this game."
UTC forward Duke Ethridge (20) tries to keep the ball inbound ahead of ETSU's Lester Wilson during their game on Feb. 21, 2015, at McKenzie Arena.The road win was the sixth of the season in Southern Conference play for the Mocs, who are 11-6 away from McKenzie during Wade's tenure. They will need a similar effort today for the 5 p.m. regular-season finale at UNC Greensboro (10-20, 6-11). The Mocs were disappointed in their overall effort Thursday night, which could bode well for them as they play the Spartans.
A win today would give UTC 22 wins in the regular season -- the third-best regular-season total of the Mocs' NCAA Division I era. Only the 1981-82 team that won 24 games and the 1982-83 and 1992-93 teams with 23 won more heading into the conference tournament.
"It would be big for our seniors to get 22 wins. None of us have done that yet," Jones said after Thursday's game. "We just want to get this next win and get some momentum going into the tournament. Hopefully, we can play better than we did tonight and get our confidence up, going into next weekend."
Buzzer beaters
Center Justin Tuoyo had three blocks against the Keydets, raising his season-best total at UTC to 97. He is third on the SoCon's single-season total list, four behind Omar Roland for Marshall in 1989-1990. ... White moved into 11th place all-time in assists, with 279. He passed Benny Green, who played at UTC in 1988-89. ... The Mocs are assured of the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament, regardless of today's outcome. They will play the winner of the first-round game between the No. 7 and No. 10 teams Saturday at 6 p.m. in Asheville, N.C.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.