NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - A furious rally that saw Appalachian State University cut a 16-point deficit with less than five minutes to play to just one in the final 20 seconds came up just short in the eighth-seeded Mountaineers' 78-75 loss to No. 5 Chattanooga in the semifinals of the 2006 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday at North Charleston Coliseum.

The winner of five of its final seven contests, Appalachian's impressive late-season came to an end and finished the 2005-06 campaign at 14-16 overall.

With its fifth-straight victory over ASU, Chattanooga (19-12) advanced to its fourth-consecutive SoCon championship game, where it will face the winner of Elon-Davidson on Sunday at 2 p.m. Taking advantage of a fatigued Appalachian squad that was playing its third game in less than 48 hours,

Chattanooga opened the second half with a 10-2 run and stretched a 36-34 halftime lead to as many as 16 points on two occasions, including at 64-48 with just 4:11 left to play. The Mountaineers chipped away by making eight of its next 10 shots, culminating with a four-point play by D.J. Thompson that cut the deficit to just one at 75-74 with 16.7 seconds left to play.

However, Chattanooga made 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute, including 3-of-4 after Thompson's four-point play to knock ASU out of the SoCon semis for the second year in a row. Things looked good for Appalachian in the early going, as it made six of its first 11 shots to jump out to leads of 10-0, 13-2 and 21-7.

However, UTC answered by out-scoring ASU 29-13 over the final 11:45 of the first half, capped by a Steve Cherry three-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Mocs a 36-34 halftime lead. Thompson scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half for the Mountaineers. Chattanooga was unconscious from the field in the second half, making 72.2 percent (13-of-18) of their shots after the break.

For the game, the Mocs out-shot the Mountaineers 52.9 percent (27-of-51) to 38.3 percent (23-of-60) and held a 41-32 advantage on the boards. In addition to leading all scorers, Thompson matched a game high with six assists. Three other Mountaineers finished in double-figures, including Demetrius Scott and Nathan Cranford (15 points each) and Jeremy Clayton (11).

Doug McLaughlin-Williams grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and Clayton pulled down eight boards, including six on the offensive end of the floor. Kedric Mays led four Mocs in double figures with 16 points on the afternoon. Charles Anderson added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds while Jerice Crouch came off the bench to make 5-of-7 shots for 13 points. Without a senior, Appalachian returns 100 percent of its roster in 2006-07.