UNCG-Chattanooga Box Score
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, TN – Josh Gross scored 15 of his 19 points in the final 7:15 to nearly single-handedly pull UNC Greensboro to a title, but the Spartans came up short, falling to Chattanooga, 66-62, in the championship game of the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at McKenzie Arena on Saturday night.
Gross was unstoppable in the closing minutes, reviving UNCG's hopes after trailing by as many as 14 in the second half. The Mocs (20-10) clung on for dear life, finally putting the game away when Casey Long stole a pass by Ricky Hickman with five seconds to play, eerily similar to a Hickman steal in the closing seconds of UNCG's win over Chattanooga in Greensboro during the regular season.
“I am very proud of the fight that we showed tonight,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “Tonight was a struggle for us. We were out of sync offensively all night, but we never stopped fighting.”
If either team was nervous about playing in a championship game on national television, neither team showed it at the outset. Both teams came flying out of the gates with a monster dunk by Chattanooga's Casey Long and a even-more-impressive block by Kyle Hines, stuffing a Chattanooga dunk attempt to break the SoCon single-season record with his 102nd blocked shot. The Mocs erased an early 7-6 lead for UNCG by scoring six straight points. A three-pointer by Mindaugus Katelynas with 8:30 to go in the half gave Chattanooga its biggest lead to that point, 20-13. Katelynas was named the Southern Conference Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He finished with 12 points on Saturday night after an 18-point, 21-rebound effort in the Mocs semifinal win over Appalachian State.
Things slowed down from there as neither team scored in nearly three minutes. Chattanooga managed just one field goal in a five-minute span and UNCG converted just two free throws. The Spartans went 6:31 without a field goal.
“Teams that fall out of sync are teams that fall behind,” said McCaffery. “We made a couple of shots early, but they were able to get ahead. Then, we took quick shots on a few possessions and fell further behind. When they got ahead in the first half, we tried to get it all back at once and that only put us in a deeper hole.”
A three-pointer by Alphonso Pugh with 3:30 to play before halftime gave the Mocs their first double-digit lead of the night, 25-15. The Mocs held on from there for a 27-19 lead at the intermission.
The Spartans couldn't seem to put a dent in the margin early in the second half. A three-pointer by Casey Long gave Chattanooga a 45-33 advantage with 13:44 to play.
UNCG (18-12), which was trying for its first SoCon title since 2001 when it beat Chattanooga at the buzzer, started to show signs of life with a 6-0 run. After a dunk by Hines, Hickman hit one of two free throws and then converted a conventional three-point play to cap a 6-0 run that cut margin in half with 11:20 to play.
But Chattanooga responded to score eight straight and held UNCG scoreless for more than four minutes to regain its double-digit lead, 53-39.
But then Gross, a senior from Columbia, MD exploded. He scored UNCG's next 11 to pull the Spartans to within seven, 57-50, with five minutes to play.
After the Mocs couldn't get the ball in-bounds against full court pressure, Ronnie Burrell knocked down a pair of free throws to get the lead to five, 61-56, with 2:10 to play. After Chattanooga failed to get a good shot as the shot-clock ran out, Gross knocked down another three-pointer to cut it to two, 61-59, with 1:29 left.
Neither team scored on its next possession and UNCG was forced to foul with 32 seconds left. Casey Long hit one of two to make a three-point game. Gross was fouled six seconds later while cutting to the ball. He knocked down the first, but back-rimmed the second. UNCG fouled again, and the Mocs made one-of-two again, still leaving the door open.
Burrell then scored on a tip-in, but was called for a foul in the process. Katelynas hit both free throws to keep the margin at three, setting the stage for the thrilling closing seconds.
After the steal, Long hit one of two to seal the win for Chattanooga, which won its eighth-ever Southern Conference title. The Mocs will await their assignment from the NCAA Tournament committee next Sunday, March 13.
Hines, a freshman from Sicklerville, NJ, finished with 12 points, four rebounds and five blocks, giving him a Southern Conference record 106 for the season. He earned first-team all-tournament honors along with Gross, who shot 18-for-23 from the field in three tournament games. Hickman, a sophomore from Winston-Salem, NC, earned second-team all-tourament honors. He had 13 points against Chattanooga on Saturday night and had a UNCG tournament record 22 points in the Spartans' opening round win over Georgia Southern.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO (18-12)
GROSS, Josh 7-10 1-2 19; HICKMAN, Ricky 2-7 8-13 13; HINES, Kyle 6-7 0-0 12; BURRELL, Ronnie 4-7 2-2 10; BRISTOW, Ray 1-7 2-2 5; JOHNSON, Dwayne 1-5 1-2 3; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-44 14-21 62.
CHATTANOOGA (20-10)
ANDERSON, Charles 6-8 1-1 13; KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 4-10 2-2 12; BROWN, Chris 3-8 3-4 11; PUGH, Alphonso 5-9 0-0 11; LONG, Casey 2-7 4-6 9; CHERRY, Steve 1-5 1-2 4; MALONE, Matt 1-2 0-0 2; HOOD, Ricky 1-3 0-0 2; CROUCH, Jerice 1-6 0-0 2; MASTIN, A.J. 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 11-15 66.
Halftime: Chattanooga, 27-19. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 6-15 (GROSS, Josh 4-6; BRISTOW, Ray 1-4; HICKMAN, Ricky 1-4; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 0-1), Chattanooga 7-16 (BROWN, Chris 2-5; KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 2-2; CHERRY, Steve 1-1; PUGH, Alphonso 1-2; LONG, Casey 1-5; CROUCH, Jerice 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Chattanooga-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 28 (BURRELL, Ronnie 7), Chattanooga 35 (BROWN, Chris 7; KATELYNAS, Mindaugas 7). Assists-UNC Greensboro 16 (JOHNSON, Dwayne 5; HICKMAN, Ricky 5; BURRELL, Ronnie 5), Chattanooga 18 (LONG, Casey 5). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 15, Chattanooga 18. Att: 7243
– UNCG –
