Wofford overtakes Mocs and wins 71-67

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team built an eight-point lead Saturday at Wofford, but turnovers and a hot-shooting Fletcher Magee ultimately did the Mocs in as the Terriers won 71-67 at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.

The loss was the Mocs' eighth consecutive as they fell to 0-7 in league play. They will be at home for the next three games, starting Wednesday against Samford. The Mocs (6-14) fell 73-56 in the first meeting with the Bulldogs in Birmingham, Ala.

UTC built an 11-point lead in the first half, led by an efficient offense and a defense that limited the Terriers to 32 percent shooting. The Mocs had the ball and were up 10 going into their final possession, but a turnover led to a Wofford runout, and center Matthew Pegram finished a dunk before the halftime buzzer to cut the UTC lead to 31-23 at the break.

UTC had limited Magee - who entered Saturday's game averaging 23.1 points per game - to five points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half, but the junior guard heated up in the second and totaled a game-high 26. He hit his first 3-pointer with 17:04 remaining as part of a 17-7 run starting the second half that briefly gave the Terriers (14-5, 5-1) a 40-38 advantage, but the Mocs responded with a 9-2 spurt and led 50-45 after a Makinde London free throw with 10:17 remaining.

The Mocs welcomed back London and fellow forward James Lewis from injuries, and the two combined for 32 points and nine rebounds. London, who missed three previous games with an ankle injury, finished with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting. He added three rebounds but had a game-high six turnovers - his seventh game this season with at least five.

The Mocs as a team had nine of their 13 turnovers in the second half.

"These turnovers have got to go," London said on the postgame radio broadcast, looking at the final stat sheet. "I've just got to keep things simple. Sometimes I see things happen before they actually do, and I get a little ahead of myself. If I cut down my turnovers, I give our team a way better chance to be successful."

Lewis, who hadn't played since a shoulder injury on Dec. 23, had 12 points and six rebounds.

UTC led 61-55 with 4:38 remaining when Magee heated up again, scoring 11 points in the final 4:26. His back-to-back contested 3-pointers tied the game at 61, and then a turnover led to a Nathan Hoover layup on the other end to give Wofford the lead for good.

Nat Dixon had a miss on UTC's next possession, and Magee drilled a 3 from about 25 feet out to put the Terriers up five. Dixon made a 3 with nine seconds to go to cut the lead to 69-67, but Magee hit a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining for the final margin.

Dixon had 17 points, his 17th game scoring in double figures this season. Rodney Chatman added 10 points and nine assists, his third consecutive game with at least eight helpers.

After losing their first four SoCon games by an average of 16.5 points, the Mocs dropped their third consecutive close contest. The Citadel and Mercer losses went into overtime prior to Saturday's defeat.

"It was a good game, probably an entertaining game to watch," UTC coach Lamont Paris said on the postgame broadcast. "Tonight was the third consecutive game that we played well enough to win. For the bulk of the game, we played better than the other team, but unfortunately it means nothing when it's all said and done when you look at the record book."

Hoover also was key in Wofford's comeback, with 11 of his 16 points in the second half. Pegram and Trevor Stumpe added 10 each. Cameron Jackson, the Terriers' second-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game entering Saturday, was held to six points and was taken out after falling and taking a knee to the head with 8:08 to play.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

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