No. 1 Chattanooga, No. 7 VMI advance to the SoCon semifinals

No. 1 Chattanooga 76, No. 8 Mercer 61

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Top-seeded Chattanooga overcame a sluggish first half and battled back for a convincing 76-61 win over No. 8 Mercer in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville on Saturday.

The Mocs won their 12th straight game and advanced to the semifinals to face the winner of the game between Furman and Samford.

Chattanooga scored 48 points in the second half after being held to 28 by the Bears in the opening twenty minutes.

The Mocs were without senior forward Frank Champion, the SoCon Newcomer of the Year, who didn't play because of an injury suffered in practice earlier in the week.

Chattanooga missed his 11.4 points a game in the opening half when scoring was difficult at  times, especially from three-point range as UTC made 3-of-14 attempts. The Bears, who split with the Mocs during the regular season, led for much of the half and took a 34-28 advantage.

That changed after halftime as Chattanooga opened with a 20-4 run that included three-pointers from Honor Huff and Garrison Keeslar to take a 48-38 with 15:03 remaining. Mercer scored five points to pull within 43-38, but the Mocs eventually built their lead back to 10 and rolled from there.

Keeslar, who made 7-of-11 field-goal attempts, led the Mocs with 19 points, followed by Huff with 16.  Trey Bonham (11), Bash Weiland (11) and Makai Richards (10), also scored in double figures.

Jah Quinones scored 17 to lead Mercer, followed by Ahmad Robinson with 12.

Records: Chattanooga 24-8, Mercer 14-19.

STATS TO KNOW

- Chattanooga made 15-of-26 field-goal attempts (57.7 percent) in the second half, finishing 27-of-57 (47.4 percent) for the game.

- The Mocs outscored Mercer 14-8 from the free-throw line.

 - Richards, who started for Champion, made 5-of-8 field goal attempts in just under 21 minutes of playing time.

******

No. 7 VMI 64, No. 2 UNCG 57

ASHEVILLE, N.C.-- VMI's turnaround from a 4-28 record last season continued Saturday as the seventh-seeded Keydets upset No. 2 UNCG, 64-57, to advance to the semifinals of the Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament at Harrah's Cherokee Center.

VMI improved its record to 15-18 and will face the winner of the game between ETSU and Wofford on Sunday.

The Keydets, who led most of the game, led by as many as 11 points and withstood every run the Spartans made during the second half.

UNCG showed some life at the beginning of the second frame as a pair of free throws and a basket by Malik Henry cut VMI's lead to one, 33-32, with 16:03 remaining. VMI, though, went on a 10-2 run to take a 40-34 lead to steady the ship.

Ronald Polite III made a three-point play with 1:52 remaining that pulled UNGC to 56-55. VMI's Rickey Bradley Jr. made a layup for a 58-55 lead and a short time later, hit an 18-foot jump shot before the shot clock expired to stretch the lead to 60-55 with 52 seconds left.

UNGC scored to pull within 60-57, but Bradley made four free throws in the final 22 seconds for the game's final points.

Bradley scored 23 points and teammate Augustinas Kiudulas added 19 for VMI. Polite led the Spartans with 18.

Records: VMI 15-18, UNCG 20-12

STATS TO KNOW

 - After making 59.2 percent of their shots the night before against The Citadel, the Keydets made 23-of-55 (41.8 percent). (40.7 percent). UNCG made just 19-of-52 for 36.5 percent.

- VMI committed just seven turnovers. UNCG made 11.

- In addition to his 23 points, Bradley grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds

2025 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Friday, March 7 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 1 - (8) Mercer 67, (9) Western Carolina 66
Game 2 - (7) VMI 73, (10) The Citadel 62
 
Saturday, March 8 (ESPN+)
Game 3 - (1) Chattanooga 76, (8) Mercer 61
Game 4 - (7) VMI 64, (2) UNCG 57

Game 5 - (3) ETSU vs. (6) Wofford, 6 p.m.

Game 6 - (4) Samford vs. (5) Furman, 8:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 9 (ESPNU)
Game 7 - (1) Chattanooga vs. Game 6 winner, 4 p.m.
Game 8 - (7) VMI vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m.
 
Monday, March 10 (ESPN or ESPN2)
Championship game, 7 p.m.