The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team won a game Monday that it had lost.
That it thought it had won.
That it appeared it was going to get blown out in.
UNC Greensboro built an 11-point halftime lead in Monday's Southern Conference game at McKenzie Arena, making 53 percent of its shots. The Spartans kept control until a 12-0 UTC run helped the Mocs steal the lead, and they had seemingly put the game out of reach, leading by six with 1:39 remaining and by two after Rodney Chatman made the second of two free throws with 15 seconds to play.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Rodney Chatman (1) calls out a play to teammates during the UTC vs. University of North Carolina Greensboro men's basketball game Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, at McKenzie Arena at UTC in Chattanooga, Tenn.The Mocs then forced a missed shot by Isaiah Miller, and James Lewis grabbed the rebound and was fouled. But he missed both free throws, and - trying to make up for the missed foul shots - tried to strip the ball away from Marvin Smith and fouled the Spartans senior 90 feet away from the basket.
Smith made both free throws, which forced overtime after a Chatman turnover in the final seconds.
In the first overtime, the Spartans used an 8-0 run to build a 71-63 lead and still led by seven with 35 seconds to go. The Mocs hung around with a layup by Nat Dixon followed by a pair of Chatman free throws and then his miraculous 3-pointer from the corner after a steal. He missed the go-ahead free throw, but this time the Spartans were unable to get off a good shot in the final 12 seconds.
The final overtime was a free-throw fest, with the Mocs making a vast majority of them (9 of 10), including the final two by Chatman with 4.5 seconds to play.
It was even more impressive because the Mocs had just lost a game in a similar situation two days earlier, when missed free throws late and turnovers led to a one-point loss to Virginia Military Institute. After that game, UTC coach Lamont Paris spoke of the desire of seeing his team finish in tight situations, having also recently endured two overtime defeats and a late-game loss at Wofford.
"We should have won Saturday," Chatman said. "We've been in a lot of close games this year. Our team has been through everything. The highs, lows and mediums. We've been through it all. We just keep battling. Adversity comes up every game. We're a young team still trying to figure things out on the fly. Coach Paris coaches us well. We have to keep pushing and improving."
They almost didn't do it Monday, but then again they almost never had a chance.
"It's so important for situations like this to happen and particularly when you come out on the right side of it," Paris said. "We won't be too high or too low the next game. I hope we get another close game next time we go out.
"By my account, that's 10 one-possession games this season. That's a lot for any team. When you have a young and inexperienced team, you're not used to coming out on the right side of it. When you do, great, put it away in the bank. It really helps us moving forward."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.