Sunday's men's basketball roundup
UTC - The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team made a program record 19 three-pointers and saw junior Honor Huff tie a career best with 31 points during a 91-66 rout over Southern Conference foe VMI on Sunday afternoon inside McKenzie Arena.
Chattanooga (10-7, 2-2 SoCon) opened the game with a blistering 10-of-10 start from the field, which included six threes, to help build a quick 26-4 lead over VMI (6-11, 0-4 SoCon) in the first six-plus minutes of the contest. UTC ended the opening half shooting 75.0% (18-of-24 FG, 10-of-13 3PT) to hold its largest halftime lead of the season, 51-22.
VMI - The VMI basketball team wrapped up an extended road trip with a 91-66 loss to host Chattanooga Sunday afternoon at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The matchup was delayed by a day due to snowy weather conditions in the greater Chattanooga area deemed unsafe for both game staffers and fans to attend.
Western Carolina 85, Mercer 82
WCU - With the game tied at 78 with 1:10 to play, senior Bernard Pelote connected on a clutch 3-pointer to spur a 7-to-4 run over the final 70 seconds to lead Western Carolina men's basketball past Mercer 85-82 in Southern Conference action on Sunday afternoon from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The victory marks five straight in the series for WCU and also denotes the first SoCon win for head coach Tim Craft.
The Catamounts had four players in double figures led by redshirt sophomore Cord Stansberry, who poured in a team-high 17 points. The Pepperdine transfer connected on three from beyond the arc and added three rebounds and two assists. Junior Ice Emery added 16 points off the bench on the strength of four treys to post his second double-figure game in the last four games.
MER - Alex Holt and Ahmad Robinson each finished with a double-double, but Mercer dropped an 85-82 contest on the road to Western Carolina Sunday afternoon from Ingles Court in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
Mercer led for most of the game, but Western Carolina was able to sneak out a win by one-possession. Mercer shot 38.0 percent from the field, compared to Western Carolina who went 46.8 percent from the floor. Western Carolina entered Sunday's game as the top rebounding team in the SoCon, however the Bears outrebounded the Catamounts, 48-40.