Justin Tuoyo thought for sure that overtime was imminent.
So did Samford coach Scott Padgett and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Matt McCall.
With the Bulldogs trailing UTC by three points in the final seconds, they broke the Mocs' pressure and Christen Cunningham saw Triston Chambers wide open in the corner for what would have been a game-tying 3-point basket. But Chambers - shooting nearly 50 percent from 3-point range for the season and 3-for-6 in the game - took his eye off the ball for just a moment and it went through his hands and out of bounds.
UTC's Johnathan Burroughs-Cook made the second of two free throws with two seconds to play, and the Mocs survived with an 82-78 win in front of 4,644 at McKenzie Arena. Now 15-4 and 6-1 in the Southern Conference, UTC will host Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday and play at East Tennessee State on Saturday.
Tre' McLean had a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mocs. Tuoyo scored 13 points, while Casey Jones had 12. The Mocs were 26-for-35 from the free-throw line but missed half of their 12 attempts in the final 1:05, which allowed the Bulldogs to creep back from down seven to within a shot of tying.
"I'm proud of our team," McCall said. "Down the stretch we didn't do a good job of closing the game out at the free-throw line, and that's a focus level. It's something we work on every day and we've got to go in there and put them in. We had a chance to close it out, but we didn't flinch, kept playing the game and got a real good quality win to keep us in good position right now."
UTC is tied in the loss column with first-place UNC Greensboro, which is 7-1 in SoCon play and gave the Mocs their only league loss on Jan. 2.
The Mocs had a hot start Saturday, showing no signs of rust after a week between games in building a 27-9 lead. But the Bulldogs cut the gap to 39-32 by halftime by slowing the Mocs' production on the offensive glass. UTC had 14 second-chance points off seven offensive rebounds in the first half.
"We came out of the gate ready to play," Tuoyo said. "Samford is a good team with good coaching, so we tried to stay focused, stay on edge and get out and get going."
The Mocs' lead teetered between five and 13 points in the second half. They led 72-62 after a pair of McLean free throws with 4:38 to play and were still up seven after two Greg Pryor free throws with 1:18 remaining, but Burroughs-Cook and Pryor each missed two free throws and Samford turned those misses into layups by Wyatt Walker and Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, the latter with 39 seconds to play. Jones and McLean then hit two free throws each, but Denzel-Dyson hit a 3-pointer from about 35 feet to cut the lead to 80-78.
McLean was fouled and hit his second free throw, and then after Chambers' turnover, Burroughs-Cook hit one to put the game away.
The Mocs' reserves were huge Saturday. Makale Foreman hit three 3-pointers for his nine points. Rodney Chatman had six points and three assists, while Nat Dixon had four points and three rebounds and Trayvond Massenburg chipped in two points, a rebound and an assist in six first-half minutes.
Denzel-Dyson led the Bulldogs (13-7, 4-3) with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Cunningham and Josh Sharkey scored 12 points each, while Chambers had 11. Walker had seven points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes.
"I thought my team wasn't very aggressive to start the game - on the defensive and offensive side," Padgett said. "We figured some stuff out and had some runs where we kept them off the backboard, but the backboard and some careless turnovers hurt us. Once we got things going, I thought it was a game, but every time we got close, their guys that had been in these big ballgames would make a play, get a big rebound and convert it.
"I'm happy with my guys' fight, not happy with how we came out, not happy with how we rebounded the ball. I've just got to get my guys to understand the importance of one possession, because every possession matters."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.