Chattanooga wins N.I.T. title, the first for the Southern Conference as well
Jurian Dixon attempted to win it for UC-Irvine with one second remaining but he missed a lay-up attempt.
Chattanooga, which was denied a potential SoCon tourney title and subsequent trip to the NCAA Tourney when it lost in the semi-finals to Furman, earns the first major national postseason tourney crown for both the school and conference.
The Mocs (29-9) and Anteaters (32-7) went back-and-forth for most of the game after Chattanooga opened up an early 8-0 advantage.
Trey Bonham's mid-court jumper to beat the halftime buzzer put Chattanooga up by one at the break, 38-37.
The Anteaters built an eight-point lead early in the second half.
Honor Huff's three free throws with 16 seconds remaining in regulation put the Mocs back in front at 76-74.
Myles Che, who played at Chattanooga as a freshman last season, then hit the first two of his three free throws to tie the game for UC-Irvine.
A missed lay-up and three-point attempt by Chattanooga's Collin Mulholland in the final five seconds prevented the Mocs from winning in regulation.
Bonham matched Mulholland's 19 points to share the team lead while Keesler and Huff added 14 points each.
It was the final game together as a backcourt for Bonham and Huff, who began their careers together in 2021 as VMI teammates under current Chattanooga head coach Dan Earl and resumed playing on the same team at Chattanooga last season.
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