The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team had a dream game on defense Saturday afternoon against Southern Conference rival Furman, holding the Paladins to 20 points below their season scoring average and forcing them into a 40% shooting day.
That, however, did not equate to a victory as the Mocs managed to shoot only 30.4% (17-of-56) in a 58-53 loss in Greenville, South Carolina.
UTC (16-11, 7-7) remains tied with Mercer for sixth place in the SoCon and is one game back of Western Carolina and Wofford in the league standings. Furman (22-5, 12-2) is tied with East Tennessee State for first, with UNC Greensboro a game behind with two weeks to go in the regular season.
UTC owns a regular-season sweep of Wofford but has lost twice to Western Carolina.
The Mocs took a 13-4 lead seven minutes into Saturday's game, but they scored only two more baskets the rest of the first half, which ended with Furman up 24-18.
"If we could have just put in a couple more baskets (in the first half), we would be leading in the second half, instead of trying to claw our way back," said Matt Ryan, who led the Mocs with 20 points and 14 rebounds. "I don't think we got it under four. This is good game experience, especially against a good team on the road going into the latter stages of this season."
The Mocs had the ball down 55-51 with 23 seconds to play when David Jean-Baptiste's 3-point shot stuck between the rim and backboard, creating a jump-ball situation in which the Paladins had possession. Furman's Jalen Slawson then sealed it with a breakaway dunk.
Noah Gurley paced the Paladins with 14 points and six rebounds, and Jalen Slawson added 13 points.
"It was, particularly in the second half, I thought it definitely felt like possession by possession," UTC coach Lamont Paris said in his postgame radio interview. "We just couldn't get enough traction to take that lead in the second half. We were up by nine to start the game and we went a little dry.
"We scored nine of those 18 points in the first six minutes of the game. The rest of those nine were in the last 14 minutes. That is not great if you do the math - that is just the way it shook out. It was a six-point game at half, which gives you a great chance to come out in the second half and play."
The Mocs' next game is also in South Carolina, 7 p.m. Wednesday against The Citadel in Charleston. Their next home game is against Mercer at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the capper to a doubleheader at McKenzie Arena as the UTC women host Samford at 2.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.