A no-look AJ. Caldwell pass to Ramon Vila for a dunk. A Matt Ryan triple off the backboard. It took five minutes of “free basketball” and a bevy of splashy plays for the UTC Mocs to secure their seventh win of the season.
In an 84-80 victory over Troy that was within five points throughout the second half, each Chattanooga basket and turnover seemed monumental, and every Troy score and stop seemed equally important. Despite the constant changes in the feel of the game, the Mocs stayed composed throughout.
“These guys have shown they’re resilient in a lot of different ways,” said coach Lamont Paris, “We just talked about the last couple of minutes, and the things you have to do to win the game in the last couple of minutes. And guys kept coming back and coming back, and making shots when we needed to.”
Matt “Matty Trice” Ryan had a superb game from the field. The tall wing with from-the-parking-lot range nailed a bundle of long-range shots to keep the game close, often raising above a good contest from a Troy defender while doing it. The 23 point scorer and Vanderbilt transfer was one of two late-game stars for the Mocs.
The other was Ramon Vila, whose late-game heroics in the post gave an interior compliment to Ryan’s sniper impersonation. His scoring exploits were especially impressive considering the amount of pressure he was under on the defensive side of the floor. Troy point guard Darian Adams, who ended with 19 and eight assists, constantly put Vila in pick and roll situations. While Vila did a decent job defending that action, coach Paris believed there was room for improvement from Vila and the rest of the team.
“We had gone back and forth on a couple of different things in the ball screen, and so we went late back to our bread and butter,” said coach Paris, “I’d say it was OK, but in general, I’d say our ball-screen coverage was not great tonight. I thought we were late: If you want to be aggressive, you have to be there early, but if you’re late, you’re opening yourself up.”
Overtime was defined by one shot. After Ryan and Vila put in two buckets and Troy’s Zay Williams punished Chattanooga’s iffy pick and roll defense with an alley-oop dunk, it was a two-point game with only 50 seconds left in the game. The ball found its way to A.J. Caldwell, who to that point was scoreless. From the right wing, Caldwell launched a smooth shot off the catch and tallied his only points of the game. With 25 seconds left, the lead ballooned from two to five, effectively icing the game.
“He’s shown he can make good decisions, and he usually does make good decisions,” said coach Paris. “So we felt confident with him down the stretch and putting the ball in his hands, and he made a great play.”
Troy never recovered from Caldwell’s dagger, and Chattanooga salted away the game at the free throw line in the following seconds. In what was possibly the most exciting game of the season, coach Paris liked the resilience his team showed during the afternoon’s affair.
“They refused to pack it in and ride off into the sunset. So I think it’s a really good indicator of the fight that’s in these guys.”