Ryan buries 7 3s to lead Chattanooga past The Citadel

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Matt Ryan scored 27 points with seven 3-pointers and Ramon Vila scored 20 and Chattanooga thrashed The Citadel 91-68 on Wednesday night.

The Mocs (17-11, 8-7 Southern Conference) built an 20-8 lead over the first 11-1/2 minutes of play and never trailed. They led 40-28 at halftime and scored 51 points in the second half. Chattanooga shot 39 of 72 (54.2%) and distributed 21 assists. Ryan grabbed nine rebounds and Vila collected seven. David Jean-Baptiste scored 16 points with eight rebounds and six assists.

Brady Spence scored 16 off the bench to lead the Bulldogs (6-20, 0-15). Rudy Fitzgibbons III scored 14 and Kaiden Rice was the only starter in double figures with 10. They finished 7-of-30 shooting beyond the 3-point arc.

The Citadel has lost 18 straight conference games dating to last year including a first round game in the SoCon tournament. The Bulldogs' last win in conference occurred Feb. 23, 2019 at home with an 87-83 win over Samford in overtime.

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