Dec. 21, 2002

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Ashley Champion scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half and Jason Rogan scored all of his game high 21 points in the second half as Chattanooga held on to a 77-68 victory over Samford Saturday night at the McKenzie Arena.

Phillip Ramelli led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Tyson Dorsey had 16 points and Cornell Felton had 15 points for Samford who drops to 4-5 on the season.

After a cold shooting first half UTC shot 50 percent and made 16-21 free throws in the second half to sweep the Bulldogs this season and improve to 7-2 on the year.

Dorsey began a frantic Samford comeback hitting three three-pointers in the final 2:27 to bring Samford back from a 12-point deficit to within four points at 69-65 with 53 seconds to play. UTC's Ray Trowell missed two free throws but Champion tipped in the second miss and then hit four free throws in the last 38 seconds to secure the victory for the Mocs.

The Bulldogs took a 28-27 lead into halftime led by six points from Eddie Harper, Felton and Ramelli. Champion continued where he left off in Birmingham making his first four shots including two three pointers to lead Chattanooga to an 18-13 lead at the first media timeout. Champion made his first 16 shots (12-12 in the first meeting) against Samford until he finally missed a shot midway through the first half. The Bulldogs went on a 14-6 run sparked by a Ramelli three pointer and a steal and a dunk by Harper to take a 27-24 lead at the 3:45 mark. Both teams went scoreless the rest of the half. Samford shot 42 percent from the floor and 31 percent from three point range in the first half while UTC shot just 35 percent from the floor and 33 percent from long range.

Rogan scored the first seven points of the second half to give the Mocs a 34-28 lead but Felton knocked down a pair of three's and Ramelli sank a hook shot to put the Bulldogs back on top 36-34. Rogan continued his hot shooting as sparked a 10-0 run by scoring seven points giving him 14 of UTC first 17 points in the half. The Mocs built their largest lead at 56-42 with 9:14 left in the game. The Bulldogs got as close as eight points but UTC got the lead back to 12 points on a Tim Parker three pointer with 3:42 left to play. Then the Bulldogs drained four of their 11 three's on the night to make things interesting. Samford finished the night shooting 46 percent from the floor and 31 percent (11-35) from long range. The Bulldogs only took four free throws in the game making three of them. UTC shot 46 percent or the game, 40 percent (12-30) from long range and 74 percent (17-23) from the line.

The Bulldogs will have the week off for Christmas before returning to action next Saturday, December 28, at South Alabama.