CollegeInsider.com Tournament
East Tennessee State 79, Chattanooga 66
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs ended a solid first season under Will Wade’s tutelage with a 79-66 loss at East Tennessee State Tuesday night in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. It was also the end of a sparkling career for Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year Z. Mason.
Mason’s final stat line is not a shock with a double-double. He tallied 12 points, a career-high-tying 15 rebounds and five blocks.
“Z. was tremendous for us this year,” Wade noted. “We didn’t have him for two games, and you wanted to hide the children watching us play. Without him, we were not a very good basketball team.
“I’m proud of his effort and know he has big things ahead for him.”
Mason’s five swats gives him 92 on the season, bypassing Neil Ashby’s 89 in 2002 for a new school record. His 9.7 rebound average is also a school record for a campaign and his 300 total boards ties Lance Fulse for second in a season.
“It was a very memorable year,” the senior big man stated. “The CPA kids coming out and supporting me, and the standing ovation from the crowd on senior night was a great feeling. The students and the fans that came out and supported us all year made it very memorable.
“I enjoyed it and thanks to everyone who supported me in my career at Chattanooga.”
Jalen Riley came off the bench to lead the Buccaneers with 23 points. He was joined in double digits by Rashawn Rembert (17), Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard (12) and A.J. Merriweather (11). Hunter Harris chipped in a team-high 12 rebounds.
Martynas Bareika led the Mocs with 15 points. Casey Jones added 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Eric Robertson netted 11.
The Bucs led by 13, 54-41, on a Riley layup at 11:33. Jones answered 10 seconds later with a layup on a nice feed from Greg Pryor (Memphis, Tenn.) who tied his career high with six assists.
Jones kick-started a 10-0 run for the Mocs. Robertson capped it with a three-pointer from the right corner at 9:32 as Chattanooga scored on four possessions in less than two minutes to shave the lead to three, 54-51.
That’s as close as it would get for the Scenic City squad. The Mocs made just one shot over the next four-plus opening the door for the Bucs to regain control of the game.
Chattanooga struggled to shoot the ball all night. It managed just 31.4 percent making 22 of 70 shots. That included a 10-31 performance beyond the arc, 32.3 percent. The host Bucs shot 45.8 percent (27-59).
The Mocs end their season at 18-15. It is the most wins since the 2008-09 campaign (18-17) and best winning percentage since 2007-08 (18-13). Tonight was the program’s 20th postseason appearance, but the first in the CIT.
National Invitation Tournament
Missouri 85, Davidson 77
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Jabari Brown scored a game-high 30 points and Missouri rallied from 13 down in the second half to get by Davidson, 85-77, in the opening round of the 2014 Postseason NIT Tuesday evening at Mizzou Arena.
As a team, the Tigers shot 60.9 percent in the second half to finish at 58 percent for the contest. In addition, Missouri connected on 25-of-34 free throws, while the Wildcats only got to the line 13 times, making 12.
Davidson’s De’Mon Brooks capped his stellar four-year career with a personal-best 29 points and seven rebounds, while going 9-of-17 from the floor and 11-of-12 at the line. Fellow senior Chris Czerapowicz scored 10 points and became the 45th player in school history to crack the 1,000-point plateau. Tyler Kalinoski also contributed double digits for the ‘Cats with 16 points to go along with six boards and six assists.
One of three Tigers in double figures, Brown went 9-of-16 from the floor and made 11-of-15 freebies. Earnest Ross and Jordan Clarkson added 16 and 15, respectively for Mizzou (23-11), which advances to face the winner of Southern Miss or Toledo.
Davidson (20-13) opened the second half on a 13-4 run capped off by a Kalinoski triple to grab its largest lead of the night, 54-41. Mizzou slowly chipped away at the 13-point deficit and went back ahead, 69-67, on a Johnathan Williams’ 3-point play with 6:05 to play.
After a Brooks’ 3-point play put the Wildcats up 72-71 with just over five minutes left, the Tigers answered with a 10-2 spurt to grab the lead for good.
Following a 51.5 percent clip in the first 20 minutes, Davidson struggled from the offensive end after intermission to finish at just 41.8 percent.
Midway through the first period Davidson used a 10-1 run sparked by consecutive 3-pointers from Jake Belford and Czerapowicz to go up, 29-22. After the Tigers reeled off seven straight to tie the score, the Wildcats responded and took a 41-37 lead into the break on a Czerapowicz trey at the buzzer, which gave him 1,002 points for his career.
Tuesday's contest featured nine ties and eight lead changes.