CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga Mocs used a strong surge to close out the first half and run away with a 107-48 win over visiting Reinhardt Tuesday afternoon.  Chattanooga (6-6, 3-0 SoCon) had five double digit scorers led by a season-high 21 points from Ricky Taylor.  

Chris Early posted his first double-double of the year, scoring a career-high 17 points, while tying his top mark of 12 rebounds.  He led a dominant show of force on the glass as UTC out-rebounded the Eagles 60-26 in front of a festive crowd in a rare midweek afternoon game in McKenzie Arena.

It was a close one early with seven lead changes in the opening seven minutes.  Reinhardt led 15-14 on a Tony Foster three-pointer at 13:27.  It was all Mocs from there.

Chattanooga took control over the final 13 minutes, out-scoring Reinhardt 41-13 to take a 55-27 advantage into intermission.  It was more of the same coming out of the break as UTC scored the first seven points to go up 62-27 on a Taylor fast break layup at 18:27.

The lead topped the 40-point mark, 75-34, at 14:58 on a layup by Jeremy Saffore.  Troy Cage made it a 50-point margin, 86-36, with a jumper less than four minutes later.  It was two of Cage's career-best 14 points off the bench.

After seven unanswered points by Reinhardt, the Mocs went on a 21-10 run to take their biggest lead, 107-46, on a Jahmal Burroughs layup at 1:51.  David Sasser provided the final tally at the buzzer for the Eagles in the 107-48 UTC triumph.

Omar Wattad and Burroughs each had 11 points.  Six different Mocs had more than five rebounds.  DeAntre Jefferson had eight boards, while Saffore added seven.  Cage also posted career highs with three steals and three assists.

Bob Cousy Award candidate Keegan Bell played a season-low 24 minutes but still dished out eight assists.  It marks eight games this season with five or more for Bell.

Ismael John led Reinhardt with a strong overall performance of 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.  Steven Jenkins had 11 points for the Eagles.

The Mocs take a few days off for a holiday break before returning to McKenzie Arena for the annual Dr Pepper Classic Dec. 29-30.  The opening game pits Georgia State against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 4:30 p.m. (E.S.T.), followed by Chattanooga hosting former Mocs guard Lincoln Walters and Montreat College at 7:00 p.m.  The game times are the same on the 30th with the consolation game at 4:30 and championship game at 7.


Davidson 76, St. Francis (N.Y.) 69

NEW YORK -­ Davidson big men Jake Cohen and Clint Mann combined for 32 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Wildcats to a 76-69 men's basketball victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) in Madison Square Garden Tuesday night in the consolation game of the Holiday Festival.

Cohen posted 17 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in just 19 minutes of action, while Mann added 15 points, two boards and a block.

JP Kuhlman netted 17 points for the OCats (6-5), and Nik Cochran scored a season-high 10 points off the bench after going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Ricky Cadell led the Terriers (6-5) with 21 points and four assists, while Akeem Johnson posted 15 points and 10 rebounds. Stefan Perunicic scored 13, and Dre Calloway added 11.

The Wildcats held St. Francis to 37 percent shooting from the field, but the Terriers were able to grab 17 offensive rebounds and score 21 second-chance points to keep the game close the whole way. Seven of Johnson¹s 10 rebounds were on the offensive glass. Davidson held the Terriers off by going 26-of-31 from the free throw line, including 9-of-10 in the last three minutes of the game.

Ahead by five points at halftime, Davidson opened up the second frame with an 8-3 run to take a 41-31 lead as Cohen scored four points during the stretch. The Terriers chipped away over the next 4:57, and Perunicic's conventional 3-point play gave St. Francis a brief one-point cushion with 13 minutes remaining.

Davidson regained the lead on a Brendan McKillop 3-pointer and never trailed again as the shot parked an 11-0 spurt, capped by a Cohen jumper that made the margin 57-47 with 8:49 to play.

The Terriers got the advantage down to four points with 6:13 left, but the 'Cats used an 8-2 run, with four different players scoring, to push the margin back to 10 points following two Cohen free throws with 2:45 to go. A long Cadell triple with a man in his face made the score 72-67 with 28 seconds left, but Cochran and Kuhlman each went 2-for-2 from the line to ice the win.

The Wildcats are back in action with a home contest against Saint Joseph's (Maine) Dec. 30. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in John M. Belk Arena.