Mocs end streak
North-leading Elon falls 83-75 at Mckenzie
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ended a historic sevengame losing streak Thursday night with an 83-75 Southern Conference basketball win over Elon.
The Mocs upset the North Division leaders with 2,606 watching in Mckenzie Arena.
“This is just starting again,” UTC coach John Shulman said. “There wasn’t pandemonium in our locker room. We were happy and we were pleased.”
Shulman allowed himself a moment to smile as he walked off the floor while players celebrated at center court.
“We talked about being a little mad,” Shulman said. “Sometime or another you have to get mad. You have to stand up. Tonight we stood up.”
It started on the first play when the Mocs’ Drazen Zlovaric dunked on Lucas Troutman.
“They played with an edge and it started on the first isolation play,” Elon coach Matt Matheny said. “He finished it. It’s a great play.”
Zlovaric finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Ricky Taylor led UTC with 24 points and Omar Wattad added 22, and they combined for 27 in the second half. But players and coaches from both teams proclaimed Jahmal Burroughs as the player of the game.
The senior returned from a pulled hamstring suffered on Jan. 26, and the Shulman-proclaimed “emotional
gon e through some tough games defensively. You get Burroughs back in that lineup and they’re a different team.”
The Mocs were a different team Thursday based solely on the scoreboard — winners instead of losers for the first time since Jan. 12, when they beat Wofford. Thursday, they avenged an 88-87 loss at Elon.
The Mocs ( 10- 16, 4- 9) now have guests in the basement of the North Division: Western Carolina fell at College of Charleston on Thursday.
“When you’re losing, you can feel sorry for yourself or you can get up and go to work,” Wattad said. “I think the seniors stepped it up. I think everybody stepped it up.
The Mocs made their biggest strides after trailing 4138 at halftime. They limited Elon (13-11, 8-5) to 34 points on 38.9 percent shooting in the second half.
A 9-0 run gave the Mocs a