ASHEVILLE, N.C. – David Jean-Baptiste hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as time expired in overtime to send No. 1 seed Chattanooga past No. 2 Furman, 64-63, on Monday to win the 2022 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville. The victory marked the 12
th SoCon tournament title for the Mocs and the first since 2016.
The Mocs will learn their postseason destination on Selection Sunday, March 13, as the 68-team field will be announced on CBS at 6 p.m. ET.
After Furman’s Mike Bothwell converted a go-ahead layup with 4.3 seconds left, Jean-Baptiste received the in-bounds pass, raced up the floor and pulled up for a deep, double-teamed 3-pointer that dropped through as time expired to punch Chattanooga’s ticket to the NCAA tournament.
The exciting ending was in stark contrast to the early going, which saw both teams struggle to score.
After spending the first three and a half minutes of the game scoreless, the Mocs found the basket first and began trading baskets with the Paladins. Furman pulled away with a 9-0 run to go up 13-7 with 10:07 left in the first half. The teams battled for the remainder of the period as Furman outscored Chattanooga 13-9 for a 26-16 halftime lead.
The second half was almost nothing like the first, as the Paladins scored in the first minute to extend their lead to 28-16. The Mocs responded with a 13-0 run to take a 29-28 lead. After a minute of back-and-forth, Chattanooga used another 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the game, 40-32, with 9:38 on the clock. Not to be deterred, Furman embarked on a 14-6 run lasting 6:36 to knot the score at 46 with just 2:12 remaining in the game. The Mocs scored five of the next seven points and held a 51-48 advantage with just 23 ticks left on the clock. Bothwell nailed a 3-point shot with just four seconds left in regulation to once again tie the score, 51-51, and send the teams to overtime.
After Chattanooga scored the first points in overtime, Furman answered with five unanswered points to take a 56-53 lead with 2:28 remaining. The Mocs outscored the Paladins 8-5 over the next two minutes to tie the game once again, 61-61, with 24 seconds left in the overtime period. That led to Bothwell’s layup to put Furman up 63-61 with four seconds on the clock, but with 0.6 seconds left, Jean-Baptiste found nothing but net on his winning heave, securing the 64-63 win for Chattanooga.
Silvio De Sousa led Chattanooga with 17 points and a season-high tying 14 rebounds, while Jean-Baptiste tallied 13 points and tournament Most Outstanding Player Malachi Smith added 12 points to round out the double-digit night for the Mocs. Bothwell led Furman with 24 points and Alex Hunter notched 12 points, while the pair each pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
RECORDS: No. 1 Chattanooga 27-7 | No. 2 Furman 22-12
3 STATS TO KNOW
- This marked the eighth time in Southern Conference tournament history that the championship game has gone to overtime. Chattanooga previously played in two overtime title games and now holds a 2-1 record in such contests.
- Furman was perfect from the field in the overtime period, connecting on 5-of-5 attempts.
- Chattanooga went 6-for-25 (24.0 percent) from behind the 3-point line for the night and had connected on 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) at the end of regulation. The Mocs went 3-for-4 from behind the arc in overtime, hitting as many treys in those five minutes as they did in the previous 40.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
First Team
Mike Bothwell, Furman
Jalen Slawson, Furman
Ques Glover, Samford
David Jean-Baptiste, Chattanooga
Malachi Smith, Chattanooga (MOP)
Second Team
Hayden Brown, The Citadel
Conley Garrison, Furman
Silvio De Sousa, Chattanooga
Jake Stephens, VMI
B.J. Mack, Wofford
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Grant Ledford, Chattanooga
2022 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
Friday, March 4 (ESPN+)
Game 1 - (9) The Citadel 84, (8) ETSU 76 (OT)
Game 2 - (7) Mercer 81, (10) Western Carolina 53
Saturday, March 5 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 3 - (1) Chattanooga 71, (9) The Citadel 66
Game 4 - (4) Wofford 68, (5) VMI 66
Game 5 - (2) Furman 80, vs. (7) Mercer 66
Game 6 - (3) Samford 66, vs. (6) UNCG 64
Sunday, March 6 (ESPNU)
Game 7 – (1) Chattanooga 79, (4) Wofford 56
Game 8 – (2) Furman 71, (3) Samford 68
Monday, March 7 (ESPN)
Game 9 – (1) Chattanooga 64, (2) Furman 63 (OT)
-www.SoConSports.com-