The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team overcome a cold spell in the second half Thursday night, pulling away from UNC Greensboro to earn a 72-64 victory in North Carolina and remain atop the Southern Conference standings.
The Mocs (15-4, 5-1) will complete a two-game road trip when they visit Virginia Military Institute (11-8, 4-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Mocs took a 38-36 lead on a Malachi Smith jumper with 16:05 to play in Thursday's game, but they didn't make another basket until David Jean-Baptiste knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing with 8:56 remaining. The defense did its part during the Mocs' cold spell, limiting the Spartans (10-8, 2-4) to four baskets to keep the game close.
"We were hanging in there just because of the defense," UTC coach Lamont Paris said on a postgame Zoom call. "Offensively, we were fleeting and we turned it over. We weren't getting baskets, so we sure had to get some stops, and we were able to do that, and that was what bought us some time to get things figured out and start playing better."
Smith was huge down the stretch, scoring 12 of his game-high 22 points in the final 6:41. He also grabbed six rebounds and three steals.
Jean-Baptiste enjoyed a positive return after missing the previous two games for undisclosed reasons, finishing with 16 points and handing out a team-high five assists. Silvio De Sousa added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while A.J. Caldwell had 11 points and six rebounds, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers.
"The beauty of our team is that we have so many guys that can make so many great plays at different times," Caldwell said on the postgame radio broadcast. "Tonight it just happened to be me, Malachi and Dave, but other times it may be Darius (Banks) or Silvio or Grant. That's just kind of how we're building."
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.