Virginia Military Institute basketball coach Dan Earl admitted there was only so much credit he could take for his team's game-winning play against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Saturday.
But it certainly worked.
Austin Vereen made the go-ahead layup with six seconds to go, and the Keydets registered their second Southern Conference win of the season by edging the Mocs 70-69 at McKenzie Arena. It's the second consecutive season that VMI (7-13, 2-7) has won at McKenzie.
The Mocs (7-15, 1-8) host UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. Monday and play Thursday at Western Carolina and Saturday at East Tennessee State.
On the deciding play, VMI point guard Bubba Parham caught the ball on the right baseline, drove hard to his right and jumped in the air. UTC took away his primary option, but the freshman was able to hang long enough to find Vereen - who had made a back cut - for the score.
"I wish I could say I called that play," Earl said. "He came off three screens on the baseline and we had a ball screen with two of our guys that can make shots. He got caught in the air on that one; fortunately we made that last basket."
The Mocs' Rodney Chatman drove the length of the court and had to double-pump to put up a shot between the 6-foot-8 Will Miller and the 6-4 Garrett Gilkeson that glanced off the side rim.
Parham finished with 26 points and seven assists, but most of that production - 18 points, five assists - came in the first half. Gilkeson picked up most of the slack in the second half, with 14 of his 17 points. He was 5-for-5 from 3-point range for the game.
The Mocs were led by Joshua Phillips and James Lewis, who each scored 15 points while shooting a combined 13-of-14 from the field and making all four of their free throws. Lewis added eight rebounds. Makinde London had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Nat Dixon had 10 points. Chatman had nine points and six assists but was called for a travel with 12.4 seconds remaining that set up VMI's final possession.
"I'm disappointed in the loss," UTC coach Lamont Paris said, "particularly in how it went down. We had an opportunity to make some plays; some didn't have to be great plays, just solid plays. We failed in that mission, so I'm disappointed in that."
The Keydets led 37-27 with 1:59 to play in the first half, led by Parham's hot start. The freshman guard was able to break down the UTC defense, get in the lane and make shots, but late in the half the Mocs started to slow him down, get stops and make shots, and a 15-0 run gave them a 42-37 lead early in the second half.
Gilkeson hit back-to-back 3s to put VMI back in front, and the teams traded leads the rest of the way, with Chatman putting the Mocs in front 69-67 with 28 seconds remaining.
The Mocs forced a missed Parham shot, but the Keydets' Tyler Creammer grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. He split a pair at the line, and then the late UTC turnover led to Parham's and Vereen's late connection.
"This one hurts," Lewis said. "Any loss hurts, but losing like that especially does. We just have to capitalize on it and move on and hopefully win the next game. We have to play with a bunch of energy and pay attention to our principles."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.