A free throw. A turnover. The simple bounce of a ball one way or the other. The Chattanooga Mocs just ended up on the losing end of a 75-72 overtime decision at Mercer. The Mocs fall to 14-8, 7- 2 in the Southern Conference, while the Bears improve to 12-10, also 7-2 tied for second a game behind Wofford.
Casey Jones had career highs with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Greg Pryor chipped in 21 points in the loss. Jones kept his team in it in the opening frame, while Pryor’s clutch play brought them all the way back in the second. Darious Moten and Ike Nwamu led Mercer with 21 and 20, respectively.
It was all Bears early. They were up 15, 41-26, after Phillip Leonard’s three-point play with 18:14 to go in regulation. Chuck Ester answered with a layup 22 seconds later to get the Mocs going. He capped the 12-3 run he started five-and-a-half minutes later with a three-point play of his own to get within six, 44-38.
Seven straight points from Ronrico White was followed by a Pryor three at 8:41 to close the gap to three, 51-48. Moten scored on the ensuing Mercer possession, but Pryor nailed another trey to get within two. The Mocs tied it at 53-all on a Justin Tuoyo slam at 7:16.
The two teams traded baskets and stops for nearly four minutes when Pryor came up big yet again. His trey at 3:52 gave the Mocs their first lead, 62-59. Typical for the closing minutes of this game, Moten tied on the next trip with three free throws at 3:12.
A Pryor basket was followed by a Jibri Bryan trey for the home team. Pryor was then fouled shooting a three. He made one of the free tosses, but the Mocs got the offensive rebound as the Bears lost the ball out of bounds. Pryor had the perfect response with a three-point play for the 68-65 lead with 1:40 to go. Mercer made three free throws down the stretch as the Mocs could not find the bottom of the net sending the game into overtime.
“They are a very good team,” Pryor said. “They got off to a good start at the beginning of the game so it put us in a tough position. But we stuck together, and we fought throughout the game.”
Jones certainly concurred with his teammate, “When they come out that strong at home, with the crowd, momentum just shifts instantly. We stayed connected like coach Wade has been telling us and we just played.”
The Bears scored the first six points of the extra frame before Jones got the good guys on the board with two free throws with 1:24 to play. White stole it from Nwamu on the Bears’ next possession setting up a Jones jumper to slice it to a two-point game.
Chattanooga had its chances. A turnover and two missed Mercer free throws gave the visitors a shot with 10 seconds to play. A missed three-pointer led to a foul sending Nwamu to the line. He missed the first and made the second. Jones had a half-court heave, but it was off left in the 75-72 defeat.
“We were able to get back in it,” Wade added. “I thought we rebounded the ball well, which was great. I thought we did some nice things, but we had some empty possessions at the beginning of overtime. I thought we took some quick shots, but we are just a different team without Justin [Tuoyo] out there.”
Tuoyo fouled out in regulation. He extended his streak of multi-block games to 19 with two, both in the second half. Jones led a strong effort on the boards Chattanooga out-rebounded the league’s top rebounding team by 11, 43-32. That included a season-high 21 offensive rebounds and a 21-7 advantage in second chance points.
The Bears led by as many as 15 early in the game, 22-7, on Nwamu’s three-pointer at 11:54. Moten’s three at 9:55 made a 13-point affair, 27-14.
The Mocs battled back. They limited their hosts to just one field goal for nearly eight minutes. That sparked a 9-2 run as Ester’s jumper at 3:39 cut it to six, 29-23. Mercer recovered and was up seven in the final possession. Nwamu drained a three at the buzzer sending the Bears into halftime up 10, 36-26.
“Overall, I was proud of our guys,” Wade concluded. “I told them after the game, the reason we lost is basketball stuff, and we can go correct that. We were a connected team. We had unbelievable spirit. We were into it, and that’s hard in this type of environment. To come back from 15 down is tough and our guys did that. We had a shot to win it at regulation, but we didn’t execute great.
“We need to learn some lessons from this and be ready to roll on Saturday against Citadel.”
The Mocs are back home Saturday for a doubleheader with the 25th-ranked women’s team. The ladies open with Mercer at 3 p.m., while the men square off with The Citadel in the nightcap at 6 p.m. Click the tickets link above to order and print at your home or office.
The games broadcast on the radio locally at US 101 the Legend at 96.1 FM. Gameday links to video (SoCon Digital Network), audio (MSN) and live stats are available on GoMocs.com. Follow @GoMocsMBB on Twitter for live updates.