If Saturday's game against Furman was a "rock fight," the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's stones packed a more impactful punch when they connected.
UTC shot only 40 percent from the field but turned 14 turnovers into 18 points and limited the Paladins to 38 percent shooting in claiming a 62-54 Southern Conference men's basketball win in front of 4,894 at McKenzie Arena.
The win avenged the only loss in league play for the Mocs (21-3, 10-1) and gave them a two-game lead over Mercer and East Tennessee State in the standings.
The Paladins (14-11, 8-4) won 70-55 on Jan. 9 in what was one of the two worst performances of the season for the Mocs.
"We knew in the first game we really didn't go in and play our game," UTC point guard Greg Pryor said. "Our minds were in another place - we weren't there mentally - and we got beat like we should have. Tonight we came in more prepared. It wasn't a pretty game, it wasn't our best game, but we fought, stuck together and pulled out a win."
It was the eighth straight win for UTC, which plays three SoCon road games this week, starting Monday night at Mercer (18-6, 8-3). That is followed by visits to Western Carolina and East Tennessee State.
Mocs center Justin Tuoyo scored 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor. Pryor added 11 points and five assists while committing only one turnover, and Tre' McLean scored 10 points and had seven rebounds as the Mocs found a way to win a tough, physical contest that included 37 fouls and 43 free throws.
Chuck Ester scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds and led the team with two steals despite missing time in the second due after getting poked in the eye.
"At their place, they completely took us out of what we were trying to do," UTC coach Matt McCall said. "We didn't have a lot of flow on offense tonight, but unlike at their place, we guarded. I thought defensively we were terrific in a lot of different ways tonight."
Stephen Croone had 18 points while Devin Sibley scored 12 for the Paladins. Croone, one of the league's best guards, was only 5-for-12 from the floor and connected on only one of his eight 3-point attempts.
Similar to the first meeting, the Mocs jumped out quickly on the Paladins - this time a 16-5 advantage after two Duke Ethridge free throws with 9:54 to play. Furman started to get the game back to its pace and cut the margin to 26-21 by the break.
The Mocs pushed their advantage to 14 in the second half after a three-point play by Tuoyo, and the lead hovered around double figures for most of the second half until an 11-3 run by the Paladins cut it to 55-52 with 1:10 to play.
UTC sealed its victory by going 7-for-8 from the foul line the rest of the way.
The loss snapped Furman's five-game win streak coming in.
"I thought we played at a high level coming in," Paladins coach Niko Medved said. "I thought we would have to have our 'A' game to have an opportunity to win. I thought we defended well and rebounded well, but we were clearly terrible on offense. I have to give a lot of credit to Chattanooga. It took a while for us to settle in, but we had our chances down the stretch.
"I like my team. We showed toughness and had a chance to win, but we made a couple of silly, silly turnovers and came up a little bit short."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.