Five is an important number in one of John Shulman’s oft-used expressions.
It goes something along the lines of, the Mocs are going to be five points ahead or five points behind with five minutes to play against comparable competition.
So far this season, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is 4-1 in close games that fit that description.
The Mocs pulled out a 67-65 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday in a game that was tied with five minutes to play.
“We made free throws,” Shulman said. “I can’t tell you that we did a great job on the boards or we great defensively but we made free throws down the stretch.
“That was good enough.”
UTC hit 10 of 12 free throws in the final 59 seconds as the Catamounts fouled in order to extend the game.
“It was pretty crazy,” point guard Keegan Bell said. “We stayed poised and knocked down our free throws. It was a knock-down, drag-out fight. We kept battling and believing.”
UTC (4-5, 2-0 SoCon) lost its first close game of the season on a 3-pointer in the last second by Caleb Brown Austin Peay.
They’ve since beat Kennesaw State by four, Marshall by one, Appalachian State by 12 (UTC was up five with four minutes to play) and now WCU by two.
“I believe we’ve grown up in the mental aspect,” junior guard Ricky Taylor said. “We’ve stepped up our communication and we believe in each other. We have a better bond than at previous times.”
Dontay Hampton forced a traveling violation in the final minute at KSU. Bell took a charge on the last play of the game at Marshall. Jahmal Burroughs made a crucial steal against App State. And four different players hit free throws in the final minute on Sunday.
“We work on being tough,” Shulman said. “We’re not having a hard time getting the ball in. We’re making good decisions. We’re clocking things OK. Chris Early had one bad turnover, but he didn’t let that freak him out.
“We had every chance to lose the game, but we didn’t.”
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.