by Camden Gober
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 5 Tennessee stole a win from the hands of defeat on Saturday afternoon as the Vols shocked No. 6 Alabama, 79-76.
Alabama’s Mark Sears led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 7 for 16 from the field, and 4 for 9 from three-point range.
Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey both finished with 18 points apiece to lead Tennessee in scoring on the night.
Lanier came out the gates red-hot for Tennessee, scoring the team’s first seven points of the game.
After a cold start offensively, for one of the best offensive teams in the country, Alabama took control of the game at the free-throw line.
Tennessee, who is already not a particularly deep team, had four different guys that had two personal fouls in the first half alone.
The Crimson Tide created some separation after a 10-0 run, however,r Jordan Gainey finished the first half with an and-1 bucket to cut the Tide’s lead to 42-38 at halftime.
Alabama continued to create separation in the second half, and after a triple by Aden Holloway, the Crimson Tide took their largest lead of the day going up 62-53.
The Vols responded with a 13-4 run to knot it up at 66-66 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Mark Sears broke a 70-70 tie with less than two minutes remaining with a crowd-silencing three to put the Tide up three late.
Labaron Philon went 1 for 2 from the charity stripe with 36 seconds remaining, putting Alabama up 76-72, and seemingly putting the game away for the Tide.
Chaz Lanier quickly responded with an and-1 bucket of his own. Lanier was not able to connect at the line, however, Jahmai Mashack was fouled on the rebound and eventually made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 76.
Following a forced five seconds out of bounds underneath their own goal, the Tide gave the ball back to Tennessee with 3 seconds remaining.
Jahmai Mashack then put his name in the history books with a go-ahead three-pointer as time expired to walk it off for Tennessee, sending Thompson-Boling Arena into an absolute frenzy.
With this win, Tennessee now sits in solo 4th place in the SEC, and the Vols remain in the hunt for their first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
No. 5 Tennessee (24-5, 11-5) will be back in action on Wednesday night in Oxford to take on Ole Miss (20-9, 9-7) at 9 p.m. on ESPN 2.