A chaotic finish on Monday night has catapulted Chattanooga back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons.
Thanks to a deep buzzer-beating three from senior guard David Jean-Baptiste, the Mocs are headed back to March Madness after defeating Furman, 64–63, in overtime for the Southern Conference championship.
Prior to this year’s tourney, the two programs had never met in a title game. The win gave Chattanooga (27–7, 14–4) its first conference crown since 2016 and its 12th in program history.
Furman guard Mike Bothwell, who led all players with 24 points, scored a game-tying bucket with less than five seconds remaining in OT to take a 63-61 lead. After securing the ensuing inbounds pass, Jean-Baptiste immediately saw a double team, but managed to find enough space to pull up from long range over three defenders.
Bothwell helped Furman (22–12, 12–6) storm back in regulation when he drilled a clutch triple of his own to send the game to OT. But the Mocs, who were SoCon’s No. 1 seed after winning the regular season crown, managed to outscore the Paladins, 13-12, to punch their ticket to the Big Dance.
The loss handed Furman, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, yet another devastating conference tournament defeat; the program has been in a March Madness drought since 1980.
With the conference crown finally back in its possession, Chattanooga will now wait for Selection Sunday to see where it ranks in the field of 68.
