The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs played Georgia Southern for 40 minutes Thursday, but the key to the host Mocs’ 75-66 victory can be condensed into the final 85 seconds of game action.
During that time, after an Eric Ferguson 3-pointer cut UTC’s lead to 69-66, the Eagles were scoreless despite shooting 55 percent from the field for the game. The Mocs were able to get the ball to Chris Early for a basket to push the lead to 71-66, and Keegan Bell and Ricky Taylor hit two free throws apiece to provide the final margin.
Although watching a double-digit lead evaporate for the third consecutive game – all wins – UTC coach John Shulman was eager to dwell more on the conference victory that pushed the Mocs to 10-2 in the SoCon as opposed to the margin they almost saw lost.
“Tonight I just didn’t think we had it,” said Shulman, who noted his team felt “flat” in the locker room before the game, “but I won’t make an apology for a win.
“Down the stretch, I think we’re a pretty tough team mentally. Chris Early made some big plays and I’m proud of him for making them, but we have a lot of guys capable of making plays. He’s just made some big ones for us as of late.”
Georgia Southern, which fell to 0-11 in the Southern Conference and 4-20 overall, has only one active senior on the roster and played six players with either one year or none of experience. That played a factor in the final 1:29 as well, as the Eagles missed a free throw and two shots from the field while the Mocs extended their lead.
“They just had a lot more experience,” said Georgia Southern coach Charlton Young, an assistant on UTC’s 2005 Southern Conference championship team. “They are sending grown men out there; we’re sending young pups.
“They didn’t panic and came up with the big play.”
The other side of the Mocs’ execution down the stretch was their inability to put the Eagles away. Georgia Southern was 8-for-9 shooting during the 21-5 run that got them back in the game.
“We’ve been in that situation a lot,” Young said with a smile. “The good thing about talented young kids is that they think they will win.
“They think they can win and think they can wind up in the [SoCon tournament] championship game.”
Mocs forward DeAntre Jefferson admitted that the veteran team probably got lax with the large lead.
“I think that at times, because we’re much older, we can get relaxed and complacent,” Jefferson said. “It’s always good when we can execute down the stretch and get wins, but we can’t lose 20-point leads.
“We like being able to score in the clutch, but we need to be able to get stops. Defense will always give you a chance to win.”