Chattanooga gets 1st SoCon win, powers past Samford, 78-71

Jan 25, 2018, 02:45 am

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Nat Dixon and Makinde London each scored 21 points and London grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds as short-handed Chattanooga picked up its first Southern Conference victory in its first eight starts, dropping Samford, 78-71 on Wednesday night.

Battling injuries after three straight conference games on the road, the Mocs used just seven players against the Bulldogs.

David Jean-Baptiste drilled a 3 barely four minutes into the game to give the Mocs a 5-3 lead and, after James Lewis Jr. broke a 10-10 tie with more than 12 minutes left in the first half, Chattanooga led the rest of the way.

London was 7 of 15 from the field and pulled down 16 rebounds off the defensive glass for Chattanooga (7-14, 1-7). Makale Foreman and Rodney Chatman scored 13 and 12 points each, respectively.

Demetrius Denzel-Dyson scored 27 points to lead Samford (7-14, 3-5), which shot just 34.3 percent from the field.