The Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball team defeated Mercer 94-90 on Thursday night at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Georgia. This win allowed Chattanooga to complete a regular season sweep over Mercer in the Southern Conference and ended Mercer’s 13-game home winning streak.
Chattanooga now holds an overall record of 11-17 and a conference record of 5-10, while Mercer falls to 17-11 overall and 9-6 in the conference. The victory was significant as Mercer had been undefeated at home this season with a 12-0 record, and their winning streak ranked as the tenth longest among NCAA Division I teams.
This game marked the 93rd meeting between the two teams, with Chattanooga now leading the series 51-42. In Southern Conference regular season matchups, Chattanooga has a 16-8 advantage over Mercer.
During the game, Chattanooga started strong by scoring the first seven points before Mercer responded with its own run to tie early in the first half. The lead changed hands multiple times until Chattanooga pulled ahead late in the half and maintained a narrow lead at halftime.
Key moments included back-to-back three-pointers from Brennan Watkins and Billy Smith that helped build a double-digit lead for Chattanooga before halftime. In the second half, both teams continued to exchange leads until Teddy Washington Jr.’s steal set up Jordan Frison for a fastbreak layup that put Chattanooga ahead late in the game. Despite Mercer’s efforts to close the gap with a late three-pointer, Tate Darner sealed the win for Chattanooga with free throws.
Chattanooga achieved its highest field goal percentage of the season by shooting 61.4% from the floor (35-of-57), including 45.5% from three-point range (10-of-22) and making over 82% of its free throws (14-of-17). The team also outrebounded Mercer by eight boards, matching its best rebounding margin against a Division I opponent this year.
Guard Jordan Frison commented on his team’s offensive performance: “I feel like we were just really connected today. We really took our time on the offensive side of the floor, we moved the ball around and instead of settling for shots, you know, we all created really good looks, the right looks. I feel like their defensive system helped us to be a little more open and able to create open shots, but we really did shoot it at a high percentage tonight.”
Chattanooga will next play against The Citadel on Saturday afternoon in Charleston, South Carolina.
