Chattanooga holds off Mercer in overtime

It took everything Chattanooga had, but it was able to hold off Mercer for a 72-66 overtime win Monday night at Hawkins Arena.

The Bears and Mocs went back and forth all night and were tied at 59 at the end of regulation. Chattanooga, however, took control early in the extra period to pull out the win, outscoring the Bears 13-7 in overtime.

Chattanooga led by three before Eric Robertson made it six with his sixth 3-pointer of the game with 32 seconds left in overtime to give the Mocs control.

Chattanooga improves to 22-3 overall and 11-1 in Southern Conference play with its ninth straight win. Mercer falls to 18-7 and 8-4 with its first home loss of the season.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Rivers: The sophomore scored a career-high 20 points, hitting 8-of-14 shots from the floor, and grabbed eight rebounds.

Leonard: The senior point guard finished with 18 points, three assists and five rebounds.

Jelks: The sophomore forward had 12 points.

Fishler: The junior center had just two points, but he dominated inside, finishing with eight rebounds and eight blocked shots.

OBSERVATIONS

Wild finish: Mercer got the stop it needed at the end of regulation, but Leonard went to the floor hard as he drove the line with about five seconds remaining and turning the ball back over to the Mocs.

Balanced Mocs: Chattanooga had four players score in double figures, led by Robertson with 20. He had five 3-pointers in the first half.

Strong at the line: The Mocs were on point from the free-throw line, hitting 17-of-20 attempts, including all six in overtime.

WORTH MENTIONING

Still short-handed: Jestin Lewis and Desmond Ringer missed their second straight game of a suspension. No word on if or when they will return.

Another big crowd: It wasn't a plus-4,000 crowd like the Bears have played in front of several times at Hawkins Arena this season, but there were 3,721 in attendance for Monday's showdown.

Jibri Bryan's funeral: The Bears will head to Savannah on Tuesday morning to attend Bryan's funeral. Bryan was killed Feb. 2.

THEY SAID IT

Rivers on the Bears' first home loss: "It's definitely a tough loss. They're a good team, first place in our conference, but we were able to hang with them. We were short-handed. It's our first home loss. And we thought we had a chance to win, so it's definitely a tough loss.

Hoffman on his team's fight against the first-place Mocs: "It was an amazing effort by our young men, and we were right there with five seconds driving the lane. Phil goes down. I'm sure what that was, but he had the opportunity to go to the free-throw line. We didn't get it. Our guys battled every second of the way. It was amazing how they battled. They gave all they had (Monday)."

Hoffman on attending Bryan's funeral Tuesday: "We will have a really tough day (Tuesday). It was a tough night (Monday). It will be more tough with the stuff (Tuesday), but more important stuff (Tuesday) than this game."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Mercer hits the road to face Wofford on Thursday.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Chattanooga holds off Mercer in overtime ."