The Chattanooga Mocs lost 75-72 in heart-breaking fashion at UT Martin. A buzzer-beater topped a late dramatic effort of their own by Jerry Johnson, Jr.
Down three, 72-69, with the shot clock off, the Mocs worked the ball to Johnson on the wing. He drifted to his right, shot faked and then lofted a three that tickled the twine to knot the score at 72-all. The game was headed to overtime with just 1.3 seconds remaining.
The Skyhawks immediately in-bounded the ball. Preston Parks launched one from 75 feet.
It found the bottom of the net. The referees double-checked and determined the ball was released in time, game to the Skyhawks.
"There's not much you can do with that shot, specifically,” Coach Lamont Paris said. “We allowed ourselves to get in a position where we needed to have some great efforts from a couple people at the end of the game. It just wasn't a good day for us. It wasn't a good day at all, we didn't have that juice."
It was a six-point game, 68-62, with 1:55 remaining. The guards went into attack-mode on the offensive end. Johnson got it started with a 3pt play at the hoop. Two defensive stops and Johnson sliced through the defense for another layup. It was a one-point game, 68-67, inside 36 seconds.
UTM went to the line getting two from Qunicy Dove. Donovann Toatley zipped down the court for a physical layup under duress to get it back to one. An immediate foul sent Parks to the line to set the stage for the final seconds to play out.
Toatley led all scorers with 19 points. Johnson tallied 12, while Jonathan Scott and A.J. Caldwell added 10 apiece. Dove led the Skyhawks with 16 points.
Chattanooga closes out the pre-holiday slate with a lunch date with Bryan. The businessperson special is a Noon start on Friday, Dec. 21. Tickets are available on GoMocs.com or by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627).