A jumper from former Green High School and Walsh University player Garrison Keeslar lifted Chattanooga to the NIT championship on Thursday.

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Chattanooga survived a nail-biting final play to become the first team from the Southern Conference to win the NIT championship, beating UC Irvine 85-84 in overtime on Thursday.

Chattanooga became the first team from the Southern Conference to win the NIT championship after beating UC Irvine 85-84.

It was a group effort for UC Irvine on Tuesday as it had four of its five starters in double figures. Devin Tillis led the way with 16, along with 11 boards. Bent Leuchten added 14, Justin Hohn had 12 and Myles Che posted 11.

National Invitation Tournament title game matchup is officially set, as No. 1 seed UC Irvine will face Chattanooga on Thursday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the championship. No. 1 seed UC Irvine advanced to the title game with a 69-67 win over North Texas on Tuesday behind 16 points from forward Devin Tillis.

Both teams have rallied to win all of their tournament games, so something has to give when the Anteaters (32-6) square off with the Mocs (28-9) on Thursday night in Indianapolis.

On the day he took the West Virginia job, North Texas barely beat Oklahoma State in the NIT quarterfinals. There was an angst from West Virginia fans who had to wait another week for Hodge to arrive on campus, while also narrowly avoiding the disappointment from Mean Green supporters to the end of a season.