MURFREESBORO, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs dropped a 68-58 decision on the road to a hot-shooting Middle Tennessee squad in Murphy Center Friday night. The loss evens Chattanooga’s record to 6-6, while the Blue Raiders improve to 6-5.
Greg Pryor tied for game-high honors with 16 points to go with three assists and two steals.
Casey Jones added 10 with two blocks and two steals. Giddy Potts led Middle with 16 of his own off the bench with a game-high seven rebounds.
The Blue Raiders built a 16-point lead, 59-43, on two Potts free throws with 6:55 to play. Eric Robertson and Justin Tuoyo took over from there. Robertson nailed a trey from the right wing before a turnover on the Blue Raiders. Tuoyo followed with a strong three-point play on the following possession.
Jaqawn Raymond drove to the basket only to be denied by Chuck Ester. Jones started the break, Robertson finished with another three in front of the Mocs bench. That 9-0 spurt closed the lead to seven, 59-52 with 5:23 to go.
Jones then made a steal in the front court. He dished to Ronrico White who scored, but was called for a charge. No matter, Pryor got a steal for the fourth straight stop. He took it to the basket to slice the margin to five, 59-54.
The Blue Raiders held strong. Jazquez Rozier and Raymond scored on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead back to nine. It would get no closer than seven from there.
Middle entered the game shooting 39.5 percent from the floor. It made 23 of 47 for a 48.9 percent clip in the win including 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range. The Mocs shot 42.4 percent (25-59) while getting beat 34-26 on the boards.
The Blue Raiders got off to a quick start before the visitors got a lift from their bench. Robertson and Duke Ethridge flipped a six-point deficit into a one-point lead with book-end threes around an Ethridge layup. Down 14-13, Middle Tennessee went on a 16-4 run to go up by 11, 29-18, on a Potts three with 1:52 until the half.
The Mocs called timeout just inside a minute to go. Pryor directed a great possession feeding Ethridge for a layup to trail 29-20 at the half.
Chattanooga returns home for an 8 p.m., tipoff Monday against Conference USA member UAB. The game is televised on ASN. Gameday links to video, audio (Mocs Sports Network), live stats and where to find ASN are available on GoMocs.com. Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter for live updates.