As the first half game clock wound down, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore guard Gee McGhee heaved the basketball into the air. The ball flew three-quarters of the way down the court and swished through the basket at the other end.
The shot gave the host Mocs a nine-point halftime lead over the Elon University Phoenix, a margin they would extend en route to an 84-63 victory on Thursday night, Jan. 24.
Elon raced out to an 8-0 lead in the game’s first two minutes off of five points from senior guard Sebastian Koch. The Mocs answered with a 15-4 run leading to the 12:49 mark of the first half. The two teams went back and forth with neither team gaining a lead of more than four points until McGhee gave the Mocs a five point lead on a free throw with 3:39 left before halftime.
Koch hit a jumper with four seconds remaining in the half, trimming what was an eight-point lead down to six. Chattanooga snared the rebound of Koch’s missed “and-one” free throw attempt and McGhee threw up his historic shot.
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With the momentum gained, the Mocs were able to push the lead to 15 points by the 15:54 mark of the half. From the beginning of the half until sophomore guard Tanner Samson hit a three-pointer with 13:08 left, Elon scored only two points. The Mocs extended the lead to 25 points with 9:54 remaining off of an and-one from redshirt senior forward Z. Mason. He scored 27 points on the night for Chattanooga to go along with 11 rebounds.
The closest Elon would make the game was 18 points with 4:00 remaining on a jumper from sophomore forward Brian Dawkins. Chattanooga was able to cruise to the 21-point victory, their ninth straight win.
Elon was led by Koch and freshman guard Luke Eddy, who each scored 11 points.
The Phoenix drops to 10-10, 3-2 in the Southern Conference. Chattanooga improves to 13-8, 7-0 in the SoCon. Elon will return to action on Saturday at Samford University. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. eastern time in Birmingham, Ala.