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.