Tami Chappell / Reuters

Tennessee guard Chris Lofton shoots over Winthrop's Torrell Martin. Lofton's shot gave the Vols a 63-61 win on Thursday.

updated 8:16 p.m. ET March 16, 2006

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Dane Bradshaw was describing his part in Tennessee’s winning play when a replay of it suddenly appeared on the locker room TV.

“Hold on, we’ve got to see this,” he said.

There he was on screen, finding a streaking Chris Lofton with an inbound pass. And there was Lofton, falling away from the basket as he launched a 19-footer over the outstretched arms of defender Torrell Martin.

“It was a good look, but he was all up on me,” Lofton said. “It still felt good.”

His teammates surely felt the same way.

Lofton took that pass with 2.9 seconds left and rattled home a jumper barely inside the 3-point line to help the second-seeded Volunteers avoid a huge upset with a 63-61 victory over Winthrop on Thursday in the first round of the Washington Regional.

“It doesn’t matter how it came, I’m just glad it happened,” Volunteers point guard C.J. Watson said.

Craig Bradshaw missed a shot right before the buzzer that would have tied it for the Eagles (23-8), who remained winless in six trips to the tournament. They were trying to become the fifth 15th seed to record an upset in the first round, and the first since 2001.

Instead, the Volunteers advance to the second round for the first time in six years, where they will face seventh-seeded Wichita State.

“It was a real gut check for both teams,” said first-year Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, who led underdog Wisconsin-Milwaukee to two victories in last season’s tournament. “Both teams were physically exhausted at the end of that game.”

The frantic finish capped a heart-pounding game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes, the final one coming on Lofton’s shot. His were the only points in the final 2:42 as both teams squandered chances to advance to the second round.

“We were right there,” Martin said. “It was tied for a good long while, but we went on a drought. It just took one play, and we didn’t make it, they did.”

MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS Thursday's games ATLANTA REGIONAL G. Washington 88, UNC-Wilmington 85, OT LSU 80, Iona 64 Texas A&M 66, Syracuse 58 Duke 70, Southern 54 MINNEAPOLIS REGIONAL Florida 76, South Alabama 50 Montana 87, Nevada 79 Tennessee 63, Winthrop 61 UW-Milwaukee 82, Oklahoma 74 Ohio State 70, Davidson 62 OAKLAND REGIONAL Alabama 90, Marquette 85 Gonzaga 79, Xavier 75 UCLA 78, Belmont 44 Indiana 87, San Diego State 83 WASHINGTON D.C. REGIONAL Boston College 88, Pacific 76, 2OT Wichita State 86, Seton Hall 66 Illinois 78, Air Force 69 Washington 75, Utah State 61

The Volunteers (22-7) had a couple of opportunities in the final seconds. Watson missed a 3, but they retained possession when Bradshaw chased down a long rebound on the other end of the court. Pearl called a timeout to set up the play, with Dane Bradshaw throwing it in.

The first option was for a lob pass to 6-foot-7 Andre Patterson, but when he was covered, Bradshaw looked for Lofton.

“I thought they were going to come to me the whole time, unless we got an easy shot, of course,” Lofton said.

His was anything but, and after it went in with four-tenths of a second on the clock, the Tennessee players mobbed Watson. Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall used his final timeout, and James Shuler’s long pass bounced off the backboard to Craig Bradshaw.

Replays also showed that the ball hit off a Tennessee player, which should have started the clock, before it got to him. It was a moot point since the hurried shot clanged off the rim, allowing the Volunteers to hang on.

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“You can definitely make the case that this was good for us, the way it turned out,” Dane Bradshaw said. “Coach says the teams we play obviously will continue to get better, but the situation we were in won’t get any tougher.”

Major Wingate led Tennessee with 15 points, and Martin finished with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Eagles.

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