Notae sparks Jacksonville to 74-66 win over Chattanooga

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MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Reserve JD Notae scored 18 of his season-high 20 points in the second half and Jacksonville heated up after the intermission and beat Chattanooga 74-66 on Saturday in a tournament hosted by South Alabama.

Donovann Toatley hit two jumpers and Jonathan Scott and Thomas Smallwood buried 3-pointers as Chattanooga opened the second half with a 12-2 run in the first 2:47 for a 35-26 lead. The Mocs led 46-39 after Justin Brown scored off a turnover, but Jacksonville got a basket and two free throws from Jalyn Hinton and a 3-point play by McCallum to knot the score at 48 with 9:52 left.

Notae took over from there, scoring seven straight points to put the Dolphins up 55-50 at the 8:08 mark. David Jean-Baptiste sank a 3 to get the Mocs within two points before Notae scored eight in a 12-3 run to put the Dolphins on top 67-56 and they cruised from there.

Jacksonville (2-4) led 24-23 after a cold-shooting first half. The Dolphins shot 33 percent from the floor and beyond the arc and made just 4 of 8 free throws, while the Mocs (2-4) hit just 9 of 28 shots (32 percent), including 3 of 10 from distance, and 2 of 5 foul shots.

Hinton and McCallum scored 13 and 10, respectively. Jean-Baptiste topped the Mocs with 11 points.