Men's Basketball Southern Conference

Chattanooga Lets Lead Slip Away At Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.---Alabama's Winston Kennedy scored the last five points of the game to lead the Crimson Tide to a come-from-behind 76-72 basketball victory over Chattanooga.

An Ashley Champion bucket with 2:05 remaining gave UTC its final lead of 72-71. Winston put the Tide back ahead at 73-72 with two free throws with 1:11 to play. His tip-in with 25 seconds left pushed the margin to 75-72. He made one free throw following a Mocs' turnover to ice the victory.

"Our kids played hard," UTC Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "I am disappointed for them. I keep telling them the importance of execution on every possession. We did some positive things at the end of the first half. We attacked their zone well and were able to get some transition baskets."

UTC used an 8-1 run at the end of the first half to slice a first-half deficit to 36-33. Ray Trowell's scoop shot just beat the halftime buzzer.

The Mocs tied the scored for the first time, 62-62, on a Chris Brown basket with 7:28 to play. The Mocs grabbed their first lead, 63-62, on an Ashley Champion free throw at the 6:43 mark and extended it to 65-62 on a Trowell layup.

A Winston three-pointer put the Tide ahead 69-68 with 3:55 remaining, but Trowell and Champion hit back-to-back buckets for another one-point lead. Champion's two-pointer at 2:05 proved to be UTC's final points of the game.

Champion led all scorers with 22 points. It was his third 20-plus point game. He also led the Mocs with eight rebounds. Brown added 16 points, and Jason Rogan had 14.

Winston led Alabama with 20 points, while Earnest Shelton followed with 19.

The Mocs open Southern Conference play Saturday at Elon.