Darner scores 18 as Chattanooga knocks off Mercer 79-75

Updated: Feb 6, 2026, 09:38 am

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- — Tate Darner scored 18 points as Chattanooga beat Mercer 79-75 on Thursday.

Darner also had five rebounds for the Mocs (10-14, 4-7 Southern Conference). Brennan Watkins scored 15 points while going 3 of 6 from the floor and 6 for 6 from the line. Tedrick Washington Jr. shot 8 of 11 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points, while adding six rebounds. Houston Holland also had 12 points. Jordan Frison scored 11 off the bench.

Baraka Okojie led the way for the Bears (15-9, 7-4) with 19 points, six assists and two steals. Armani Mighty added 18 points and seven rebounds for Mercer. Kyle Cuffe Jr. also put up 14 points and Zaire Williams had 12 points and five rebounds.

The Bears lead 37-34 at the half, and used a 9-0 second-half run to lead by seven. But in the final five minutes, with a 63-63 game the Mocs outscored the Bears by four, and led by six with 59 seconds left after a 3-pointer from Frison.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.