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Chattanooga basketball made history on Thursday night at a place that’s seen a ton of it.
The Mocs became the first team from the Southern Conference to win an NIT title at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, outlasting UC Irvine, 85-84, in an overtime thriller. But that was just part of the story, because all anybody will be talking about for weeks, months and maybe years ahead is how that overtime ended.
It was one part exhilarating, one part anguish, depending on what team you were talking about. With Chattanooga holding on to that one-point lead and 2.4 seconds left in overtime, UC Irvine had one last chance. For the Anteaters to prevail, it would have to come on a Christian Laettner-type play, because UC Irvine’s Devin Tillis was forced to inbound the ball at the other end of the court, just like Grant Hill did successfully in Duke’s epic victory over Kentucky in that Elite Eight classic back in 1992.
Unfortunately for the Anteaters, there was no happy ending on Thursday night, like there was for the Blue Devils. Instead, there was only agony. Because it almost all worked out, and it maybe should have. UC Irvine’s Bent Leuchten amazingly caught the long inbounds pass and had the presence of mind to touch-pass the ball down low to Jurian Dixon, who had the moment of a lifetime in his hands.
But in crushing fashion, Dixon’s short shot attempt right at the basket didn’t go in. The announcers on ESPN had this reaction after the not-to-be believed ending:
Almost lost in the drama at the very end of overtime was the actual winning shot by Mocs guard Garrison Keeslar, who knocked down a jumper with 11 seconds left in OT to give Chattanooga the lead it almost relinquished seconds later.
Mocs head coach Dan Earl was brutally honest in the postgame interview on SportsCenter, admitting that, well, his team got a little fortunate.
“That’s not how we drew it up at the end, but we’ll take the win,” said Earl.
And neither program will ever forget that ending, for very different reasons.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
