UNCG-Chattanooga Box Score
Ray Bristow led UNCG with 19 points |
CHATTANOOGA, TN – Charles Anderson scored 15 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field to lead five Chattanooga players in double-figures as the Mocs defeated UNC Greensboro, 82-68, in Southern Conference men's basketball action Monday night.
The loss was the fifth-straight for the Spartans, who missed on a chance to climb back into the North Division title race and fell to 13-11 overall and 6-7 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga remained atop the North Division with an 8-5 mark in conference action and a 15-9 record overall.
The Mocs, who entered the game next-to-last in the SoCon in three-point field goal percentage at 28.2 percent, made 6-of-10 from three-point range in the first half and 8-for-17 for the game.
Junior guard Ray Bristow led the Spartans with 19 points, one shy of a career-high. Ronnie Burrell added 12 points, including the 1000th of his career.
Burrell became the 13th player in UNCG history to record 1,000 career points and the ninth to do so in UNCG's Division I era. He reached the milestone at the 15:26 mark of the second half on a conventional three-pointer play. In 101 career games, Burrell now has 1,015 career points. He is only the fourth player in the university's Division I era to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.
“They beat us in the first half when they shot 59 percent,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “I liked our effort better in the second half. We can't worry about the standings right now. We have to worry about our execution. We've lost five in a row and it is because we aren't executing at key times in the game. We can't look at the standings, we have to look at ourselves, first.”
The Mocs used a 13-5 run to open up the first double-digit lead of the night, 22-12, with 11:35 left in the first half. Compounding matters, Burrell picked up his second foul with 10:26 left in the first half. The Spartans cut the deficit to six, 30-24, before Chattanooga scored the next seven points to trigger a 13-3 run, capped off with a three-pointer by Pugh, to give the Mocs a 43-27 advantage.
For the half, the Mocs shot 59.2 percent from the floor, including a perfect 6-for-6 by Charles Anderson to account for his halftime-high 12 points, to take a 48-33 lead into intermission.
Midway through the second half, the Spartans made a run. Trailing by 15 with just under 11 minutes to play, Brian Beckford converted a conventional three-point play to cut the deficit to 59-47. UNCG cut it to nine two minutes later, the first time the margin had been in single-digits since midway through the first half. Ricky Hickman knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it a 61-52 game.
The teams traded a couple of baskets before UNCG started to cut back into it. Two Ray Bristow free throws with 7:07 to play made it an eight-point game, 64-56. After an offensive foul by the Mocs, Bristow hit a runner in the lane to cut the margin to six. But that is as close as UNCG would get as the Mocs made all 10 shots from the line in the final 1:23.
In the second half, the Mocs hit 20-of-26 from the foul line as UNCG held Chattanooga to just 6-for-19 from the field. Chattanooga, the No. 2 team in the nation in rebound margin, held a 39-28 advantage on the glass.
UNCG returns home for another key game on Saturday night when it hosts Appalachian State at 7 pm.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO (13-11, 6-7)
BRISTOW, Ray 6-13 6-6 19; BURRELL, Ronnie 4-7 3-3 12; HICKMAN, Ricky 2-8 5-6 10; GROSS, Josh 2-10 4-5 8; HINES, Kyle 4-9 0-1 8; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 2-5 1-2 6; BECKFORD, Brian 2-3 1-1 5; MOORE, Donald 0-0 0-0 0; EVERETTE, Dustin 0-0 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Dwayne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 20-24 68.
CHATTANOOGA (15-8, 8-5)
ANDERSON, Charles 7-7 1-2 15; PUGH, Alphonso 3-6 6-8 14; KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 3-9 7-10 13; LONG, Casey 3-5 4-4 11; MASTIN, A.J. 4-6 0-0 11; MALONE, Matt 1-1 2-4 5; CHERRY, Steve 1-4 2-2 4; CROUCH, Jerice 2-8 0-0 4; BROWN, Chris 1-4 0-0 3; HOOD, Ricky 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 25-51 24-32 82.
Halftime: Chattanooga 48-33. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 4-14 (HICKMAN, Ricky 1-5; BURRELL, Ronnie 1-1; BRISTOW, Ray 1-3; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 1-3; GROSS, Josh 0-2), Chattanooga 8-17 (MASTIN, A.J. 3-5; PUGH, Alphonso 2-3; MALONE, Matt 1-1; BROWN, Chris 1-2;
LONG, Casey 1-2; CROUCH, Jerice 0-2; KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 0-2). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-JOHNSON, Dwayne, Chattanooga-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 28 (HINES, Kyle 7; GROSS, Josh 7), Chattanooga 39 (KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 11). Assists-UNC Greensboro 10 (HICKMAN, Ricky 4), Chattanooga 13 (KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 3). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 23, Chattanooga 19. Att: 3782.
– UNCG –
