SoCon Hoops “1990s Decade of Glory”: Mocs are ‘Born’ Winners

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Now he was in Harrisonburg, and he had a Dukes team that could shoot the basketball. In the meeting with the Dukes, Louis Rowe’s 28 points was enough to lead the Dukes to a 79-72 win over the Paladins at the Convocation Center in Harrisonburg.

In the matchup against Lutz’s Forty-Niners, the Paladins had few answers and less replies as to how to stop UNCC’s talented wing, Jarvis Lang, who scored 24 points and added 10 boards in what was a Forty-Niners 70-52 win in early December at the Memorial Auditorium in downtown Greenville.

Furman headed into league play with just four wins to name, with only two against NCAA Division I competition, however, despite that, would be competitive and a tough out on most nights in league play.

The Paladins also ranked highly in several defensive categories during the 1994-95 season, which included leading the league in scoring defense (69.0 PPG), while ranking second in field goal percentage defense (44.2%).

The Paladins posted a total of six conference wins, finishing 6-8 in the league, which was good enough for fourth overall in the league’s South Division. The Paladins had a trio of impressive wins, with two of them coming inside the friendly confines of the Memorial Auditorium a little over a month apart, as Furman was able to get what was an 80-71 win over Davidson on Jan. 16, and a month and two days later bested Anquell McCollum, Frankie King and Western Carolina, 83-72.

However, the most impressive win of the entire 1994-95 season came on the road a the Cam Henderson Center on the campus of Marshall University and took home what was a 77-68 win before better than 5,100 fans in the final game of the opening month of conference play.

The Paladins would come up with the win getting a pair of 21-point performances from Sexton and Harris, while Pat Marshall posted a key 15 points and eight rebounds against Marshall, delivering one of his signature clutch performances in the road win for the ‘Dins. Freshman big man Chuck Vincent would close out the game by adding 12 points and seven boards.

In February, the Paladins would start the final month of the regular-season in strong fashion, downing Tom Apke’s Mountaineers, 76-60, in Greenville, with Steve Harris leading the way with 23 points, while Chuck Vincent added another impressive rookie performance, posting 17 points and 14 rebounds.

In what was a rare, late-season out-of-conference game, which seemed to often involve the Clemson Tigers during the mid-late 1990s, the Paladins would fight hard at Littlejohn Coliseum before eventually dropping a 69-63 contest on Feb. 8, 1995. Clemson’s “Slab Five” under head coach Rick Barnes would see Merl Code go off for a game-high 26 points in the win over the Paladins.

The Paladins would then hit the Volunteer State swoon, dropping what was a hard-fought, 75-66, setback in Johnson City to East Tennessee State before getting nipped, 71-70, at the Roundhouse by the Moccasins. Chattanooga would score 49 first-half points and lead by 13 at the break, however, the eventual league champions would have a fight on their hands, but held off the Paladins in the end, getting strong performances from both Brandon Born (19 pts) and John Oliver (10 pts), holding off a pesky Paladin team.

After a narrow 60-59 home win over VMI a day before Valentine’s Day at the Big Brown Box, the Paladins would avenge an earlier loss to Western Carolina in Cullowhee by handing the Catamounts an 82-73 setback in a late-season clash. The Catamounts got a combined 52 points from eventual league player of the year Frankie King (36 pts) and 1996 SoCon Player of the Year Anquell McCollum (16 pts), as the duo had established themselves as one of the top scoring guard tandems in all of college basketball.

Unfortunately for the Paladins, the win over Western Carolina would end up being their final win of the 1994-95 season, as the Paladins would fall in their final three contests of the season, starting with a 72-64 setback at The Citadel.

The 1995 SoCon Tournament

The 1995 Southern Conference Tournament, which was also the 75th anniversary of the nation’s oldest college basketball tournament, will always hold a special place in my heart for its sentimental value to me personally.

After all, this was the first Southern Conference Tournament I would ever attend in-person, and it would be one of my most cherished memories of an event that has become an annual event that look forward to each year.

It was fitting that my first tournament then, was in Asheville, and is of course the sight where the current tournament is held. As of this past tournament (2025), I have attended some part of 27 of 30 tournaments in my lifetime, and I remember some part of each one, but the one that sticks out the most is the first one.

One of the main reasons it remains emblazoned my memory is that first Southern Conference Tournament I attended, which was the fact that I really only went to the opening Thursday night of the tournament, and was allowed to miss both Thursday and Friday from school to attend.

☝️ more week until the first of our two summer camps!

🏀 Summer Camp I (Ages 7-17)
📅 June 23-26, 2025
🏟️ McKenzie Arena/UTC Campus

Spots are almost filled, sign up now!
📝 https://t.co/v2jXdi3Wcr pic.twitter.com/siFTwlgnpj

— Chattanooga Basketball (@GoMocsMBB) June 16, 2025

I had planned on being back for Friday’s games, and perhaps even Saturday’s semifinal games, however, a series of events had kept me from doing so, with the most notable being the fact that my mom, who attended with me instead of my father, who couldn’t get off work, actually got lost coming back from Asheville late that Thursday night after the second game, which saw Furman’s season end with a 78-73 loss to Appalachian State in the second of two play-in games. Georgia Southern had won the first play-in round contest, with a lopsided, 94-71, win over VMI.

When we asked to stop and ask for directions on the way back, the man at the service station, which was like one of those you might see in a horror movie in the newest edition of the “Wrong Turn” series, told us to “Beware of ’em hairpin turns but if ye keep goin’ a this way, you’ll eventually come to a gravel road where you wanna take a left.”

I’m not sure my mom listened to the directions, or didn’t believe the man, but it was probably the latter if I had to guess, however, we somehow ended up at Lake Lure. By the time mom actually found the right road to get us back home, which was probably US Highway 25 because I don’t think we ever made it to the actual interstate, it was about 1:45 am and we would arrive home around 3 am. It was a wild ride home.
I basically slept almost until the noon tip-off between Georgia Southern and top seeded Chattanooga the next day, and witnessed a better-than-expected game, with the Mocs squeaking out a 70-66 win. Chattanooga’s ultimate shot-makers ended up being the difference against a scrappy Eagles team, which was headed for probation in the very near future.

In the second game of the day, East Tennessee State’s guards Robert Doggett pushed the tempo, while big men Tony Patterson and Phil Powe would be too much for The Citadel and sharp-shooting guard Noy Castillo and the game would get out of hand early, as the Bucs never looked back en route to an 85-65 win.

The two night session games would end up offering the most intrigue, with top seed out of the North Division, Marshall, taking on an Appalachian State team that lost both regular-season meetings, but the most recent meeting in Boone had seen the Mountaineers come so close to pulling the upset in a mid-February clash, but ultimately fell 70-69.

The Mountaineers played maybe their best game of the season, and it would be the final win for the Black and Gold under then head coach Tom Apke. The Mountaineers would end up taking a 93-82 decision in the first game of the evening session, producing what would be considered the first major upset of the 1995 Southern Conference Tournament.

The Mountaineers were a program that had been a lot of games throughout the season, however, the primary issue was they didn’t win many of them. However, in Asheville, it was if the boys from Boone were playing outside of themselves, and with a confidence they hadn’t displayed previously during the season.

All good things come to an end, and for the Mountaineers and their “Cinderella Story” in March, the exit would be provided by bitter mountain rival Western Carolina. Led by the dynamic backcourt tandem of King and McCollum, the Catamounts downed the Black and Gold, 74-64, in the second semifinal game of the evening.

Appalachian State’s guard play would prove elite in the ’95 tournament, and diminutive point guard William Cook would lead the Mountaineers throughout the tournament, as the Mountaineers would record a remarkable 64 assists in three games, setting a new Southern Conference Tournament record in the process.

An @NITMBB championship run for the ages. 🏆

From Murfreesboro to Indianapolis, a historic run that Chattanooga will never forget.

Enjoy in all its glory 👇
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— Chattanooga Basketball (@GoMocsMBB) April 17, 2025

The championship game between Chattanooga and Western Carolina would turn out to be a classic, with the game being controlled for much of the way by the Catamounts, as the guard tandem of King and McCollum was providing the Mack McCarthy’s Chattanooga Mocs all they could handle defensively and then some.

In what was a game between a pair of teams that could score the ball well, the two teams eventually settled into a defensive slugfest inside the Asheville Civic Center, as points for both teams didn’t come easy at any place on the floor. The Catamounts would get 35 of their 61 points in the game from King (18 pts) and McCollum (17 pts), while small forward Kevin Kullum added 14.

Final Standings from 1994-95

North Division

1. Marshall 18-9, 10-4

2. East Tennessee State 14-14, 9-5

3. Davidson 14-13, 7-7

4. VMI 10-17, 6-8

5. Appalachian State 9-20, 4-10

South Division

1. Chattanooga 19-11, 11-3

2. Western Carolina 14-14, 8-6

3. The Citadel 11-16, 6-8

4. Furman 10-17, 6-8

5. Georgia Southern 8-20, 3-11

1995 Southern Conference Tournament Bracket

March 2-5, Asheville Civic Center/Asheville, N.C.

First round
March 2Quarterfinals
March 3Semifinals
March 4Finals
March 5

4NVMI71
5SGeorgia Southern94
1SChattanooga70
5SGeorgia Southern66
1SChattanooga71
2NEast Tennessee St.69
2NEast Tennessee St.85
3SThe Citadel65
1SChattanooga63
2SWestern Carolina61
4SFurman73
5NAppalachian State78
1NMarshall82
5NAppalachian State93
2SWestern Carolina74
5NAppalachian State64
2SWestern Carolina78
3NDavidson74
* Overtime game