It looked like an easy dunk for MTSU’s Jacquez Rozier.
Only 45 seconds remained, and the Blue Raiders led the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga by 10 in Murfreesboro. UTC junior Casey Jones had just missed a shot, and Rozier, a 6-foot-7 post, had leaked out and rose up for what looked like a breakaway slam.
Only Jones was having none of it. His block sent the ball sailing out of bounds. And although the home team would go on to win by the same 10-point margin, Jones and his UTC teammates had sent a message:
We’re not quitting.
“Coach said before the game that if you turn the ball over, or do something wrong, to get back on defense and ‘pin it off the glass,” Jones said. “I’m kind of athletic, so I try to go get a block every now and again. I heard their (MTSU’s) bench telling him ‘Go dunk it; go try him.’ In my head, I’m thinking, ‘you’re not trying me. You can try somebody else, but not me.’