Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Mocs Down Lipscomb Monday Night

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.-  Four minutes. A 40-minute contest, in a lot of ways, came down to a four-minute spurt pushing the Chattanooga Mocs to a 78-60 win over visiting Lipscomb Monday night in McKenzie Arena. Eric Robinson scored 12 of his career-high 20 during a 14-0 Mocs second half run fueling the victory.

Greg Pryor nearly matched “3-Rob” finishing with 19 points, five rebounds and a career-best six assists. Backcourt mate Ronrico White chipped in 13 points and six assists. Malcolm Smith led Lipscomb with 14 points and six rebounds.

Josh Williams’ jumper with 11:07 to play got the Bisons to within five, 56-51. The Mocs locked down defensively holding the visitors without a point over the next 3:38. The offensive burst was much shorter.
Robertson got the 14-0 explosion started with a three at 9:49. One minute, 37 seconds later, Chattanooga extended that five-point margin to 19, 70-51, on Robertson’s third three-pointer of the stretch. The visitors got no closer than 14 the rest of the way.

While the 13 three-pointers made tied the Mocs’ season high, defensively is where the game turned. Turned as in turnovers. The Bisons had a season high of their own with 24 miscues. That’s 15 more than the Scenic City lads (9) leading to a 32-5 advantage in points off turnovers.

Another key defensive performance was limiting Lipscomb’s three-point looks. The Bisons entered the game averaging 26-plus three-point attempts per game. The Mocs allowed just 17 tonight, six were made.

The turnovers and limited three-pointers were pivotal because the Bisons shot it well. They hit 52.3 percent (23-44) from the field and 35.3 percent (6-17) from 3pt range.

The Mocs broke open a see-saw affair early with an 11-2 run midway through the first half. White drained a three with 7:24 until intermission for a 29-17 advantage. Early foul trouble (2 each) for starters Pryor, White, Casey Jones and Justin Tuoyo opened the door a crack for the Bisons.

They closed the half out-scoring the home team 18-7 to get within one, 36-35, at the break. Smith hit a trey at 17:33 of the final frame to give Lipscomb its largest lead, four points, 42-38. Pryor answered with a three of his own before White gave Chattanooga the lead for good with a jumper at 15:56.

The Mocs improve to 8-6 on the year, finishing the non-conference slate with a 7-6 ledger. That’s the first winning non-conference mark since 2009-10. Lipscomb falls to 5-8, 1-7 on the road.