ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The last time Scottie was in Madison Square Garden, the Chicago Bulls were going through some memorable playoff series with the New York Knicks.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Scottie - junior Scottie Boykin - will get that chance in a couple of weeks.
Boykin was one of two UTC wrestlers to earn Southern Conference individual titles and bids to the NCAA tournament being held March 17-19 at the Garden. The Mocs' bid for a fourth consecutive team title fell short Saturday, as they fell to Appalachian State by a half-point (83.5-83).
"We really did what I thought we could do," UTC coach Heath Eslinger said. "This tournament is about the individual, not the team. We had a good day. I thought we wrestled pretty well together."
Boykin won the 197-pound title, while Kamaal Shakur - the conference freshman of the year and the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament with two major decisions and a 10-6 final victory - was the 157-pound champion. UTC heavyweight Jared Johnson fell 3-2 to SoCon wrestler of the year Denzel Dejournette of ASU in a tightly contested final decided by a third-period takedown.
Johnson still qualifies for the NCAA tournament, as the SoCon was allocated three spots at his weight class.
UTC's Mike Pongracz (141), Sean Mappes (174) and John Lampe (184) placed second in their respective classes and could receive NCAA at-large bids Tuesday.
"Those guys had great years and had some good wins," Eslinger said.
"We had a good effort," Boykin said. "We looked good in areas; some others we need to work on."
His 3-2 win over The Citadel's Marshall Haas briefly gave the Mocs a 2.5-point lead on Appalachian State.
"It was fun," Boykin said of the match. "I'm a crowd person and I like the pressure on me, but after it's all said and done, it comes down to wrestling the guy in front of me."
Shakur's final win was over Aaron Walker of The Citadel.
Gardner-Webb (61.5), SIU-Edwardsville (51.5), Campbell (47.5), The Citadel (34.5), Virginia Military Institute (27) and Davidson (5.5) rounded out the team scoring.
"Today was fun - this is what sports are about," Eslinger said. "It was healthy; it was a rivalry; it was good for wrestling and good for the conference."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.