The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team is planning a blackout for Saturday's Southern Conference home game against UNC Greensboro.
The Mocs got a taste of the real thing Thursday night at Virginia Military Institute.
A power outage at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia, caused a lengthy delay, but UTC used a season-high 16 points from Thomas Smallwood to escape with a 71-70 win. The Mocs, who also received 11 points each from David Jean-Baptiste, Donovann Toatley and Ramon Vila, won despite not scoring in the game's final 3:04.
The Keydets (7-16, 1-10), though, only scored four points over the final 7:48 and had the final possession, which ended with Jake Stephens missing a 3-point shot with a second left.
The Mocs (11-14, 5-6), who broke a four-game SoCon losing streak with the win, took the lead for good on Smallwood's 3-pointer with 4:25 to play. The 7-foot center finished 4-for-4 from 3-point range and added six rebounds. The graduate transfer's performance helped overcome a combined 7-for-22 shooting night from Kevin Easley (eight points) and Toatley, the Mocs' leading scorers this season.
A pair of UTC turnovers in the final minute gave the Keydets life. SoCon scoring leader Bubba Parham missed a 3-point attempt after the first one, but Garrett Gilkeson converted a layup off a steal after the second one with 14 seconds to go to, pulling VMI within one.
Fouled to stop the clock, Easley missed a 1-and-1 attempt with nine seconds to play, but with heavy attention given to No. 1 option Parham, Stephens was forced to launch his 3-point try that fell off.
Parham led VMI with 21 points, with Myles Lewis adding 15.
The Mocs host UNCG (21-3, 10-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.