Mocs Headed to NIT Final Four With 67-65 Win Over Bradley
(gomocs.com) The Chattanooga Mocs are semifinals bound after a stirring 67-65 win at the Bradley Braves Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament. Honor Huff (21) and Trey Bonham (17) combined for 38 points leading an amazing comeback and keeping the championship dream alive.
The Mocs trailed by as many as 16 in the first half and were down 11, 44-33, after a Demarion Burch step back jumper at 16:21. Then the Huff show took over the Peoria Civic Center.
The junior from Brooklyn rattled off eight straight to cut the advantage to three, 44-41. The key plays came from Latif Diouf. He corralled two offensive rebounds in the middle possession of the spurt resulting in a Huff three at 15:20. The Braves extended the lead back to seven on back-to-back baskets, but a Huff layup on a side out of bounds masterpiece was followed by three Bonham free throws at 11:47 to get within two, 48-46.
The Mocs kept working on both ends of the floor and Bradley kept them at bay until the 8:44 mark. Garrison Keeslar came up clutch with a three giving his team a 54-52 lead. Bash Wieland extended it on the next time down the floor with a 14’ jumper to get to 56-52.
Bradley answered with a modest 5-0 run to retake the lead on a Duke Deen turnaround. A Bonham three with 5:10 on the clock swung the lead back to the good guys, 59-57. The seesaw got busy from there with the lead changing hands and ties coming down the stretch.
Bonham came up big again. He drilled a three from the top of the key at the minute mark for a 64-61 lead. Deen did the same 19 seconds later with one from the left wing in front of his bench for tie No. 4. Bonham was unfazed. Huff drove late in the next possession, kicked it out to the corner and Bonham delivered with 14.1 ticks left.
After a timeout, Deen dribbled up top and looking for his shot was fouled with 4.8 to go by Wieland to take a three-pointer out of the equation. He made the first and missed the second on purpose, but Diouf grabbed the rebound. He missed the ensuing free throw but Deen’s desperation three from 70 feet was off the mark.
Chattanooga secures a trip to Indianapolis for the semifinals. The Mocs head to hallowed Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University with an April 1 date against the winner of Loyola Chicago at Kent State played Wednesday night, March 26.
RECORDS – Chattanooga: 27-9 | Bradley 28-9
