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John Shulman
ELON, N.C. — A first pump. And that was it.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman had little energy for a more emotional outburst after the Mocs claimed the Southern Conference North Division with a 57-56 win at Elon on Saturday.
Senior Marcus Watts and junior Keyron Sheard celebrated a little more with screams, shouts, hugs and a little bit of dancing.
“I’m happy and whatever adjective you can think of,” junior Nicchaeus Doaks said. “Exhilarated, exuberated — OK, I made that up — but you know what I mean.”
A tap-out by Khalil Hartwell, a drive by Watts and a 3-pointer by Doaks gave the Mocs a onepoint lead with 31 seconds to play.
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WG Photos/Grant Halverson -- UTC’s Kevin Bridgewater draws a blockikng foul against Ola Atoyebi of the Elon Phoenix during the first half.
In order to win both the game and the division crown, the Mocs had to do it on the defensive end.
“It’s only fitting that it comes down to the last game, the last second,” Kevin Goffney said. “This team has been through a lot.”
Elon’s Montell Watson missed a difficult drive with three seconds left, but Doaks fumbled the rebound out of bounds with 2.4 to go.
After two timeouts, Brett James — with Goffney’s hand in his face — missed a 3-pointer from the left corner. The ball hit the front of the rim, bounced in the air and the horn sounded.
“I was never so happy to see a ball miss in my life,” Shulman said. “We won on the defensive end.”
Elon shot 36.1 percent from the floor and went 2-for-23 from the 3-point arc, including James’ errant attempt.
“I couldn’t throw it in the stands,” James said.
Watts led the Mocs with 15 points. Doaks added 13 points and eight rebounds. Watson led the Phoenix with 15 points.
“We made it hard on ourselves,” Goffney said. “We were up 10, and the next thing you know, we were down.”
UTC limited Elon to five points over the final 11 minutes of the first half and owned a 24-20 lead at halftime in a slowpaced, physical game.
The Mocs (18-12, 13-7 SoCon) owned their 10-point lead with 16 minutes to play. Elon edged ahead for the first time with 9:18 to go and led by two with 2:17 to go.
Hartwell then missed on a post move, but fought for the rebound and tapped it to Watts, who drove to tie the game.
“The thing about Khalil is that he made big play after big play,” Watts said. “He didn’t give up.
“I wasn’t going to let one man stop me from getting to the basket.”
Elon went ahead by two on a jumper by James. Then the Mocs ran a set play and Doaks came open on the right wing. He composed himself before rising and swishing the 3-pointer with 31 seconds to go.
“This was a tournament-type of game,” Shulman said. “We played for an awful lot tonight. We gutted it out.”
The Mocs earned the No. 2 seed in the SoCon tournament — they swept Elon, while Appalachian State split with the Phoenix — and will play their first tournament game Saturday in the North Charleston Coliseum against the winner of the Elon-Furman game.
“Maybe our guys can breathe now,” Shulman said. “I don’t want this to be our only celebration.”
David Uchiyama is a sports writer at the Chattanooga Times Free Press who began his tenure here in May 2001. His primary beats are UTC athletics — specifically men’s basketball and athletic department administration — and golf, which includes coverage from the PGA Tour to youth events. He also covers other high school sports, outdoor adventures, and contributes to other sections of the newspaper when necessary. David grew up in Salinas, Calif., and began working ...
