The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team picked the coldest night of the season to have its hottest shooting night.
The Mocs, back at home after a rough four games away from McKenzie Arena, shot 52 percent for the game and put five players in double figures to run past Hiwassee, 95-62, on Tuesday. Jerry Johnson led the Mocs (3-5) with 20 points, with David Jean-Baptiste and Donovann Toatley coming off a productive bench to add 19 each.
“To be honest, there is not a whole lot of difference between our bench and our starting five,” UTC coach Lamont Paris said. “That can be really good in that it keeps everybody competitive. We put guys in there, and we expect them to play even better than the starting guys were performing.”
The Mocs needed the boost when the Tigers, a member of the NCCAA and a team UTC defeated by 48 points in each of the last two seasons, tied the game at 31 on a Naquon Newman layup with 4:30 to play in the first half.
After a timeout, which included a Paris plea for some defensive urgency, Toatley scored on a strong drive to ignite a 12-0 run to end the half. The intensity Paris wanted was prevalent during the run, which featured three forced turnovers, contested jumpers and a blocked shot.