There's a difference between having a killer instinct and the will to win. The Mocs have one. Not the other.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga earned leads of at least 17 points in its last two games only to see their large advantages disappear.
Fortunate or lucky, gritty or scrappy, the Mocs beat UNC Greensboro 111-110 in double-overtime on Thursday, and topped Elon 85-76 on Saturday before a crowd featuring UTC basketball legends.
The last two games could have been blow-outs. Instead, they went down to the final minutes.
"A large lead in basketball can be bad because it makes you relax," point guard Keegan Bell said. "It makes you feel like you've done something. Then when you relax, good teams come back.
"We're not good enough to relax, and Elon is good enough that we can't relax on them."
The Mocs are now 10-1 in games when the margin between the two teams is five points or less with five minutes to go. Their one loss in that situation came against Austin Peay in its second game of the season.
"That's living on the edge," former UTC coach Murray Arnold said before Saturday's game, which was the culmination of a reunion for all former UTC players, coaches and staff.
Coach John Shulman's wife, Amy, put her hand over her heart and pitter-pattered it minutes after the win to signify what she -- and most other UTC fans -- endured in most of the Mocs' wins this season.
"Basketball is a game of runs," guard Omar Wattad said after beating Elon. "We had a big one, they had a huge one, and we knocked them out in the end."
Back on Thursday, the Mocs led the Spartans 56-36 with 15:42 to go. UNCG pulled to within 61-60 with 10:18 to play. The Spartans led by three with 23 seconds to go before Bell hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with seven seconds to go.
UTC could have won in overtime if it would have stopped Trevis Simpson at the buzzer. But his layup went. Then UTC trailed by seven in the second overtime. Yet, the Mocs won.
On Saturday, UTC led by 17 points before Sebastian Koch hit a layup at the very end of the first half. Elon trimmed a 15-point halftime deficit to five points within the first five minutes of the second half. The Phoenix tied the game with 9:46 to play. Then they were down just two with 4:45 to go.
Call the paramedics.
"The other night, we let up," Shulman said. "Tonight, Elon's execution was good. We understood who [Drew] Spradlin was and we let him get his game off in the second half."
Spradlin sank five 3-pointers in the second half on Saturday. Going back to Thursday, UNCG guard Brandon Evans had zero points at halftime. He finished with 28 points by hitting 7 of 10 3-pointers, a jumper and five free throws.
"The same thing happened tonight," Wattad said. "Evans was smacking 3s [on Thursday] and today, Spradlin smacked 3s.
"It happened. We stayed cool. And we won."