UTC's Greg Pryor plays in the game against VMI Wedneday, January 25, 2017 in UTC's McKenzie Arena.JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - It wasn't that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team played badly Saturday.
East Tennessee State just played a little bit better.
The Buccaneers executed better down the stretch of a close game, turning the ball over less and making key free throws in a 76-71 Southern Conference victory in front of a sellout crowd of 6,149 at Freedom Hall.
The Mocs (15-6, 6-3), who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since the 2014-15 season, will host UNC Greensboro on Thursday in a doubleheader with the UTC women.
Greg Pryor had his second consecutive 20-point game, leading UTC with 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Justin Tuoyo scored 15 to go along with three blocks, while Jonathan Burroughs-Cook added 10 points, all in the final 7:42.
The Mocs and Bucs shot an identical 24-for-55 (44 percent) from the field, but ETSU (17-5, 7-2) made seven more free throws. That included an 8-for-10 showing from Hanner Mosquera-Perea, a 53 percent free-throw shooter entering the game.
He had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Tevin Glass had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucs, who outrebounded the Mocs 43-28 and 14-8 on the offensive glass, leading to a number of extra possessions. ETSU also turned 16 UTC turnovers into 20 points.
"Going into the game, I thought the two biggest keys for us were keeping them off the backboard and keeping them out of transition," UTC coach Matt McCall said. "We had to keep them out of transition and that starts with offense, and we had some turnovers at crucial times. I really felt like rebounding was a huge key and turnovers. We can't turn the ball over like that and expect to win on the road - not in a place like this, a building like this, in an environment like this."
The Mocs held guard T.J. Cromer, the SoCon's second-leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, to eight points on 3-for-12 shooting, but Desonta Bradford had 19 points while A.J. Merriweather scored 13.
"We talked today before the game about no regrets. We wanted to play hard and leave it out there," ETSU coach Steve Forbes said. "I thought we played our guts out. There were some runs they'd make, and we knew it. They're a really, really good team and I have a lot of respect for their players, but this is a tremendous win for our team - and we were a team. They took away T.J., but we have a lot of other ways to come at you.
"We were able to get just enough of a lead to get it done late."
The Mocs rode a hot start to a 15-6 lead, but ETSU rallied with a 10-0 run and held UTC to one field goal in a 8:12 stretch to take a 24-19 lead. The Mocs went ahead by two on a Pryor 3-pointer with 1:04 to play, but Cromer scored 20 seconds later and the teams were tied at 34 at halftime.
The Mocs were able to stay within striking distance in the second half but cotinually found themselves behind. Down 52-45, the Mocs used a 9-1 run, capped by a Burroughs-Cook 3-pointer, to take a 52-51 lead with 7:42 to play, but the Bucs retook the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Bradford with 4:55 to play and held off the Mocs the rest of the way.
"We didn't get enough consecutive stops tonight," Pryor said. "We'd get one or two stops, then they'd come down and score three times straight. We've got to try to pull them (stops) together; it'll affect our offense a lot more and help the momentum of the game."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.