The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team used a balanced attack on both ends of the floor and a huge second-half scoring effort to pull away for an 88-72 non-conference road victory at Alabama A&M inside the AAMU Event Center in Huntsville, Ala., on Saturday evening.
Chattanooga improves to 7-3 on the season after earning the victory in the first-ever match-up between the two schools. Alabama A&M drops its fifth-straight contest and falls to 1-10 on the season after the defeat.
The Mocs saw four guys reach double figures in the scoring column while all nine who saw action connected on at least one field goal during the win. UTC finished the game shooting 53.7% (29-of-54) from the field which marked its best shooting mark against a DI opponent this season.
"A lot of people impacted the game. Credit to Alabama A&M. They are a hard-playing group who can get downhill. You had to pack it in and be strong with the ball," said head coach Dan Earl following the game.
"I thought in the opening minutes of the second half, I think we did a good job of executing and opened the lead a little bit. I thought we did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball, most of the time, and that's what we preach to the guys about."
Chattanooga jumped out to an 11-5 lead with 13:21 left in the first after Honor Huff knocked down a deep three off a feed from Trey Bonham, who checked-in a few minutes prior making his UTC debut. It was Bonham who extended the Mocs lead to 17-9 at the 10:45 mark with his first field goal, a three in transition.
Both teams continued to trade points over the next few minutes before a Myles Che corner three and a Bonham finish at the rim allowed for a 30-18 UTC edge with 6:14 left before the break. The Bulldogs responded with a quick rally to make it 32-25 (3:48) and continued to close the gap, knocking down a triple at the first-half horn to pull within five, 39-34, after the first 20 minutes.
UTC sprinted out of the second-half gate with a 12-2 run capped off by a Huff three in the corner and a Sam Alexis dunk in the middle, extending the guests lead to 51-36 with 17:34 left in the game. AAMU battled its way back over the next five minutes, pulling within 11 (58-47) with 12:54 on the board.
The Bulldogs continued to climb its way back into the game as a Jayland Randall three-ball brought the home squad within seven, 62-55 (10:36), its closest deficit since the five-point disadvantage at the break. Chattanooga answered with a 13-2 run over the next five-plus minutes to build a 75-57 lead with 5:18 remaining.
The UTC defense continued to lock things down, especially behind the arc, over the game's final moments as the balanced effort eventually led to the 88-72 final. The Mocs held AAMU to just a 4-of-19 (21.1%) mark from three during the victory.
UTC captures a 1-0 edge in the all-time series after tonight's initial meeting.
The Mocs limited Alabama A&M to a lowly 21.1% (4-of-19) mark from three in the victory. The four 3PT FG's allowed are the fewest to a DI non-conference opponent since allowing three against Illinois in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 on March 18, 2022.
Trey Bonham made his Chattanooga debut as the NCAA's two-time transfer rule was suspended during the week by higher powers. He finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting, 2-of-4 from deep and 4-of-6 from the line. Bonham added three assists and a board in just 18 minutes.
Chattanooga has now improved to 17-2 under head coach Dan Earl when scoring 80 or more points. It's the fifth time with 80 or more this season. The Mocs are 4-1 in those games.
