SoCon Fans

Chattanooga 111, UNC Greensboro 110 (2 OT)

You might see more significant games this season in college basketball – the NCAA Tournament will make sure of that. However, you might never see another game as entertaining in 2010-2011 as the one that just unfolded in a college basketball mecca.

For years, the ACC Tournament has often been played in Greensboro, North Carolina. For one night, the city hosted a delicious basketball battle in the Southern Conference, not the ACC. The results were magical in a rollicking affair that lit up the evening.

The Chattanooga Moccasins remained at the top of their Southern Conference Division after a pulse-pounding victory over the lowly UNC Greensboro Spartans at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Thursday night. The Moccasins moved to 8-2 in Conference play, snapping the Spartans’ three-game winning streak.

It was a game of runs as each team owned a particular half of action. Chattanooga jumped out to a quick lead early, seemingly following the script against a UNC Greensboro squad that had begun the season 0-13 before its recent winning streak that turned an 0-15 bagel into a somewhat more respectable 3-15 overall recorr. When the first half was over, Chattanooga head coach John Shulman had an 11-point lead to work with.

Credit the Spartans, though, for creating this epic and producing the lion’s share of the drama in this SoCon instant classic. The group from Greensboro didn’t go away. On the back of Korey Van Dussen’s  33 points, UNC Greensboro responded with a tremendous second half. Given hope and inspiration by the energizing thrill of winning three straight games, UNCG acted as though it belonged on the court. A substantially changed mindset, combined with the fresh and recent experience of actually winning games, infused life into the steps of the underdog.  The Spartans led by three points in the closing seconds and were just about to celebrate a titanic upset.

Then, the leader of the SoCon North Division reminded everyone why it’s in such an advantageous position, two full games ahead of second-place Western Carolina for the division lead. With the fans inside the gym ready to erupt – and students preparing to storm the court – the Mocs delivered a dagger in crunch time. Chattanooga’s Keegan Bell hit a game-tying three-pointer with just five seconds left, silencing the hostile crowd and puncturing UNCG’s mental balloon. Chattanooga raced in front in the first overtime period and was getting ready for the kill, but just then, UNC Greensboro provided a dose of dramatics on a larger scale. Trevis Simpson’s layup at the horn – while the Mocs watched on defense – sent the game to a second overtime tied at 100.

Head Coach Mike Demint’s UNC Greensboro squad led by as many as seven points in double overtime but couldn’t hold the lead. Chattanooga’s Ricky Taylor hit a game-winning shot with just 15 seconds remaining to give the Mocs the victory. Taylor was terrific on the evening, pouring in a career-high 41 points.

What’s more is that his teammates needed every single one of those 41 points to prevail on a night that fans, coaches and players won’t soon forget.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer