No. 1 Chattanooga 71, No. 9 The Citadel 66
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – No. 1 seed Chattanooga picked up a hard-fought victory over No. 9 The Citadel, 71-66, on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville. With the win, the Mocs advance to play either No. 4 Wofford or No. 5 VMI in Sunday's semifinal round.
After trading baskets for the first few minutes, The Mocs scored seven unanswered points to take a 12-5 lead, but the Bulldogs answered with four points in 24 seconds to cut Chattanooga’s lead to 12-9. Chattanooga then used a 17-4 run to go up 29-13 with 6:38 left in the first half. Over the next 3:34, The Citadel used an 8-2 run of its own to pull within single digits, 31-23. However, the Mocs scored the final six points of the period to enter the locker room with a 37-23 advantage.
After The Citadel scored the first points of the second half, the Mocs once again began to distance themselves and worked their way to a 15-point lead, 52-37. The Bulldogs refused to roll over and used an 11-0 run to close the gap to four, 52-48, with 6:35 to play. A 9-2 Chattanooga run once again put the Mocs up by double digits, 61-50, with 3:49 on the clock. After The Citadel cut Chattanooga’s lead to six with just over a minute to play, the Bulldogs attempted to take the lead from the Mocs but were ultimately unsuccessful, as Chattanooga worked its way to a final score of 71-66.
David Jean-Baptiste led the Mocs with 20 points, including a perfect 6-of-6 in free throws, tying his season highs in both free throws made and free throws attempted. Southern Conference Player of the Year Malachi Smith scored 19 points and KC Hankton added a season-high-tying 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds for Chattanooga. Darius Banks dished out a season-high-tying six assists for the Mocs.
Hayden Brown led the Bulldogs with 17 points and six rebounds, while Stephen Clark netted 14 points, Tyler Moffe scored 13 and David Maynard added 11 points. Moffe also dished out a team-high five assists for The Citadel.
RECORDS: No. 1 Chattanooga 25-7 | No. 9 The Citadel 13-18
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Chattanooga went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line in the second half, including a 10-for-10 performance in the final minute, allowing the Mocs to hold the Bulldogs at bay.
- After struggling from the field in the first half and connecting on just 31 percent of their shots, the Bulldogs came out blazing in the second half and shot 55 percent from the field, including 38 percent behind the 3-point line. Overall, The Citadel outperformed Chattanooga from behind the arc, as the Mocs connected on just 18.2 percent of their 3-point attempts on the day.
- Chattanooga shot a solid 45.5 percent from the field, going 25-for-55 on the day.
No. 4 Wofford 68, No. 5 VMI 66
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Max Klesmit converted a go-ahead three-point play with seven seconds left to lead No. 4 seed Wofford past No. 5 VMI, 68-66, on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville. The Terriers will face No. 1 Chattanooga in Sunday’s semifinal round, tipping off at 4 p.m.
The first 6:15 of the game saw three lead changes and six ties as neither team jumped to an early lead. A quick 8-0 spurt gave the Terriers the first substantial lead of the game with 12:18 remaining in the half. The teams traded baskets for several minutes as Wofford maintained its lead until VMI used an 8-0 run of its own to go up 34-33 late in the half. Each team added a pair of points before time expired and the Keydets held a 36-35 advantage at halftime.
The Keydets held onto the lead for just over six minutes into the second half, but the Terriers were chipping away and eventually took the lead, 50-49, and ran with it as the teams had less than 11 minutes left to play. Wofford worked its way to 57-51 advantage and held off a VMI comeback, 57-56, before hitting back-to-back treys to go up seven, 63-56. The Keydets were not deterred and embarked on a 10-2 run lasting 3:05 to take a 66-65 lead. With seven ticks left on the clock, Klesmit sank a layup for the Terriers and connected on the subsequent free throw to put Wofford up 68-66. The Terriers stopped a last-second attempt from the Keydets to hold on for the win.
Morgan Safford led Wofford with a season-high 17 points and a team-high four assists. Klesmit netted 15 points while B.J. Mack notched his fifth double-double of the season with 15 point and 10 rebounds to round out the double-digit efforts for the Terriers. Jake Stephens led the Keydets with 23 points, while Trey Bonham added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Honor Huff also dished out a game-high five assists for VMI.
RECORDS: No. 4 Wofford 19-12 | No. 5 VMI 16-15
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Wofford won the turnover battle, committing eight turnovers to VMI’s 11, while also recording nine steals. The Terriers made the most of those opportunities, scoring 18 points off turnovers.
- The Keydets shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 35.5 percent from behind the 3-point line, while the Terriers connected on 41.7 percent of their shots, including 32.1 percent from behind the arc.
- Wofford, which has averaged 31.4 rebounds per game this season, pulled down 36 rebounds and outrebounded VMI 36-30.
2022 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
Friday, March 4 (ESPN+)
Game 1 - (9) The Citadel 84, (8) ETSU 76
Game 2 - (7) Mercer 81, (10) Western Carolina 53
Saturday, March 5 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 3 - (1) Chattanooga 71, (9) The Citadel 66
Game 4 - (4) Wofford 68, (5) VMI 66
Game 5 - (2) Furman vs. (7) Mercer, 6 p.m.
Game 6 - (3) Samford vs. (6) UNCG, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 6 (ESPNU)
Game 7 – (1) Chattanooga vs. (4) Wofford, 4 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, March 7 (ESPN)
Championship game, 7 p.m.
NOTE: All times Eastern. All games to be broadcast on ESPN+, with the championship game also on Nexstar.
-www.SoConSports.com-