GREENVILLE, S.C. -- David Schuck scored 17 points and Luke Boythe had nine points in a second-half run as North Carolina-Greensboro rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Davidson 73-68 on Saturday night and reach its first Southern Conference Tournament championship.
Davidson, which came in this week at 13-16, looked ready to carry its upset run into the title game with a 48-35 lead with 16 minutes left.
That's when the Spartans (18-11) got angry, especially coach Fran McCaffery, who threw his jacket onto the court protesting a foul call against Boythe and got a technical.
The jolt woke up Boythe and Greensboro, which went on a 20-6 run over the next eight minutes. Boythe scored the last seven points of the run to put the Spartans up 55-54.
Davidson led twice after that, the final time on Chris Pearson's inside shot.
But Courtney Eldridge hit a 3-pointer and Schuck followed with a three-point play.
Emeke Erege's driving basket brought the Wildcats within 67-64 with 1:31 to go. But they would come no closer as Ronnie Taylor made four foul shots and Nathan Jameson sank two for the Spartans in the closing seconds.
North Carolina-Greensboro was Big South Conference champion in 1996 and lost to Cincinnati, 65-61, that year in the NCAA Tournament. But the Spartans had only won one game in three previous Southern Conference tournaments.
On Sunday, they will meet Chattanooga or Georgia Southern with an NCAA berth on the line.
Pearson led Davidson (15-17) with 16 points. Wayne Bernard, who had scored 46 points in the Wildcats' first two tournament wins, was held to nine points on 1-of-3 shooting.
Pearson hit a 3-pointer and a jumper as Davidson led 28-18 in the first
half. The Wildcats extended the lead to 48-35 on five points by Martin Ides and
a 3-pointer by Michael Bree.
Davidson was trying to reach the final for the 14th time in its Southern
Conference history.
Game summary
Toot Young had 19 points and Dusty Pullian continued
his perfect play, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the second half, as
Chattanooga beat Georgia Southern to make the Southern
Conference Tournament finals for the first time in four years.
The Mocs (17-12), the league's most successful team the past two decades with eight tournament titles and 12 trips to the championship game, go against
first-time finalist North Carolina-Greensboro for an NCAA Tournament berth Sunday.
Young's first-half shooting -- he made four of five shots, including two
3-pointers -- led Chattanooga to a 13-point lead, while Pullian's presence underneath stopped any chance of an Eagles (15-15) comeback.
Pullian hit all four of his shots and is now 19-of-19 in Chattanooga's past three games.
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