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2015 SEC Tournament: Volunteers, Gamecocks Round Out Quarterfinal Field

By Michael Collins

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The SEC Tournament round two saw the Tennessee Volunteers make a huge comeback against rival Vanderbilt, and South Carolina pull off a miracle against Ole Miss.

It was the rubber game of the three meetings between Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and the Vols came back from 12 points down to push past their in-state rivals, 67-61, to move on to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

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    • It was the Commodores game to win, but they hit only one of their final 10 shots and committed five turnovers down the stretch. Tennessee finished the game with a 20-2 run during the final 6:18 of the game.

    The Vols were lead by Josh Richardson, who had a game-high 22 points, along with six rebounds and two assists. It was also Richardson who was demonstratively upset with his team during a timeout when the Vols trailed Vandy by 12, and his verbal chiding seemed to get Tennessee charged up.

    Vandy lost any slim hope they may have entertained of an invite to the NCAA Tournament, and will probably now wait for the call from the NIT. Tennessee will now move into quarterfinal play on Friday where they’ll meet up with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

    The Rebels turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, and six more times in the second half to keep South Carolina in the game. But it was a crazy turn of events in the last 10 seconds of the game that summed up this entire battle.

    The Gamecocks held on to slim leads, with Ole Miss battling back throughout the game, with several lead changes taking place in the last few minutes.

    And then…it happened.

    Laimonas Chatkevicius made one of two free throws for the Gamecocks to put them up 57-54 with just 11 seconds left in the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Rebels brought the ball down court, finding Jarvis Summers in the corner, who then proceeded to knock down a three-point shot, being fouled in the process by Duane Notice.

    Mar 12, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward Laimonas Chatkevicius (14) shoots over Mississippi Rebels forward Sebastian Saiz (11) during the first half of the second round in the SEC Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

    Summers sunk his free throw, putting the Rebs up 58-57 with just three ticks left.

    Game over, right?

    Nope. Because as South Carolina guard Tyrone Johnson gave up his body to heave a desperation 3-pointer, he was bumped by (and I use the phrase “bumped by” loosely) LaDarius White. Three FTs later, the Gamecocks were 60-58 winners.

    Ole Miss still clings to some slim NCAA Tourney hopes, while South Carolina will now move on to play Georgia in the Friday night quarterfinal session.

    Next: Gators and Tigers Come out of Round 2, Session 1

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