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Ollie Woodburn scored two tries as Exeter pulled off a stunning 35-26 win in a pulsating contest as Lester Gallagher’s love missed the chance to move up to second in the table.
Henry Slade’s last-minute penalty prevented them from taking anything from the match, but they are still safely in the play-offs.
With Bristol Bears now hoping to finish in the top four, fourth-placed Exeter’s match against fifth-placed Saracens at Sandy Park on Saturday will determine the final teams in the play-offs. Exeter are three points ahead of Saracens in the table.
Exeter deservedly ran out winners, scoring four tries to three, Len Ikitau and Andrea Zambonin also getting down while Slade converted three penalties and three conversions.
Exeter forwards coach Ross McMillan said: “We were disappointed with our performance at Harlequins last week, but we’ve bounced back every time we’ve had setbacks throughout the season.
“The tight-knit squad has great character and they’ve always responded when they’ve had a bit of a knock.
“We knew it would be a tough challenge from the start but the boys took it on board and I loved the battles today, especially the scraps on the floor and in the air as that possession is vital.
“The Leicester pack are used to dominating here so I’m incredibly proud of how we got in front of them.”
Leicester’s tries came from George Pearson, Ollie Cracknell and Charlie Clare while Orlando Bailey added 11 points with his boot.
Hanro Liebenberg led the Tigers in his 150th appearance for the club and his side were soon ahead when Bailey kicked a penalty in the fourth minute.
But almost immediately after the restart, Emmanuel Faye-Waboso collected a clearance to beat three defenders before timing his pass to send Woodburn under the post.
Slade converted and added a straightforward penalty before the Tigers responded with an impressive score when Pearson collected a superbly judged cross-field kick from Bailey.
Leicester looked to have regained the lead when a break from Bailey saw Adam Radwan cross the line but TMO replays showed the wing was held by a combined effort from Slade and Harvey Skinner.
However, the Tigers were not to be denied and Bailey’s second penalty put them back in front but it was soon canceled out by one from Slade.
Leicester squandered a golden chance when Ollie Hassell-Collins failed to collect a weak pass from Pearson after a strong run from Jack van Portvliet and Jamie Blamer left the defense behind.
But another Bailey penalty put the hosts ahead 14-13.
Three minutes after the restart, Exeter scored a superb second try when a neat off-load from Dafydd Jenkins sent Tom Hooper into the opposition 22 and when the ball was recycled, Ikitau out-flanked the cover to score.
Leicester switched four forwards in one move but it did not pay dividends as Exeter immediately increased their lead when Woodburn took an inside pass from Ikitau for his second try.
But Woodburn were then sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on with the Tigers when Cracknell left his side trailing by four points in the final quarter.
Woodburn came back from the sin-bin without doing any further damage to the scoreboard but came back and Clare finished from close-range to set up a thrilling finish.
A handling error from the home side enabled Exeter to regain the lead when a long pass saw Zambonin avoid a poor challenge from Adam Radwan for a bonus-point try as Slade’s last-minute penalty left the Tigers with no points from the game.
