Game Notes: Charlotte @ George Washington

If you thought the Charlotte 49ers' game against George Washington on Feb. 3 was tough (72-68 home win), Saturday's 6 p.m. match-up with the Colonials in Washington D.C. might be an even tougher task to handle.

The 49ers come into Saturday's game coming off one their most lop-sided wins of the season, a 95-58 romp over a slumping St. Joseph's squad at Halton Arena Wednesday night.

Although the tilt with George Washington looks to be an easy task on paper (GW: 15-11; 5-8) the Niners will face one of their toughest road tests of the year. The Niners are just 2-6 all-time in D.C. with an 0-2 record in A-10 play and struggled against the Colonials at Halton Arena. George Washington won last year's match-up in D.C. 92-88 in overtime.

Charlotte Head Coach Bobby Lutz is one win shy of No. 400 all-time. Lutz posted a 181-91 record in nine years at Pfeiffer and in his 12th year at Charlotte, owns a 218-154 record.

In his last game against George Washington, Charlotte forward Shamari Spears scored 31 points and is averaging 16.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game this season. Sophomore junior college transfer Derrio Green is second in scoring at 13.7 points per game and freshman Chris Braswell is averaging nearly a double-double with 9.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

George Washington is led by forward Damian Hollis (13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds) and freshman guard Lasan Kromah (12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds). Hollis scored 13 of the Colonials' first 17 points Feb. 3 to jump out to a 17-4 lead and put the Niners in an early hole.

George Washington seems to be hitting it's stride, winning three of the last four after a three-game losing streak. The Colonials are 7-5 at home this season.

The game can be seen on MASN and can be heard locally on WBCN, 1660 a.m. with Matt Swierad.

-- Josh Carpenter

Buchannan is a fan unlike any other

Paul Buchannan is just a regular guy. He’s an assistant principal at an all-Pre-k school in Charlotte, has a loving family that he cannot get enough of and works at Little Caesars for “a little bit of extra spending money.” But when Buchannan makes his way down to Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium for a Charlotte 49er baseball game, he’s a completely different man.

“Give ‘em a ride, uh-huh! What it is, uh-huh!”

Buchannan has been dubbed as the “uh-huh guy” by the Charlotte faithful and has been making his mark on Charlotte athletic events for nearly five years. Buchannan started using the phrase in the spring of 2005 when he began cheering for the Kannapolis Intimidators, a single-A White Sox affiliated minor league baseball team.

Buchannan didn’t feel like simply yelling for the team was enough and felt like he needed to add an exclamation point onto the end of his phrases. According to Buchannan, uh-huh is defined as, yes, Paul Buchannan’s spirited expression of life and to express agreement or positive affirmation.

“People say, ‘What does uh-huh mean?’ and what do I mean by it,” Buchannan said of his catchphrase. “All it means is yes, and you won’t find it in the dictionary because it’s hyphenated.”

“I even have a theme song,” Buchannan said. “That’s the way, uh-huh uh-huh I like it, uh-huh uh-huh.” (KC & The Sunshine Band)

During the construction of the newly-built Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium, the 49ers spent some time playing at the Intimidators’ Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium and were taking on Virginia Tech when Buchannan stumbled upon them. Right away, Buchannan was hooked and became a member of Niner Nation.

“This is an awesome place, and every one of these students should take advantage of every minute of every day, 24/7,” Buchannan said.

Now, Charlotte’s stadium has a unique aspect that can’t be found in any other college stadium and uh-huh’s catchphrase can be heard at just about any home game.

“Uh-Huh is the epitome of a die-hard fan. He doesn't swear or use degrading remarks. He just does his duty as a fan by getting into the heads of the other team's players,” 49er baseball fan Ed Niser said of Buchannan. “He does it all with a smile...heck if he likes you he will give you an official Uh-Huh T-Shirt.”

Buchannan’s catchphrase isn’t the only thing that makes him stand out. He also makes a plethora of signs with different phrases on them.

“I usually like to carry a sign or two. Like last night, I carried six signs because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to carry,” Buchannan said of his routine. “It takes me about 15 or 20 minutes to make one and I’ve probably given 50 away. I probably have around a dozen now.”

Buchannan’s signs and phrases aren’t his only trademark act. He also streaks out of the ballpark on every foul ball so as to retrieve it for the team. His signature moment when retrieving balls came last season in Chapel Hill when Charlotte played UNC, a 2-1 Charlotte victory. All three runs scored in the game were via home run, and of course, Buchannan retrieved every one of them.

“All three runs were solo home-runs—two by our DH (Designated Hitter), Ryan (Rio) Rivers, and one by Carolina's DH, Tarron Robinson,” Buchannan said in an e-mail. “I went out during the game and retrieved all three homerun balls, giving the three balls to the players that hit them at the end of the game. That will never happen again—three homerun balls in one college game retrieved by one guy, the uh-huh guy.”

One thing about Buchannan’s antics that stands out to most is his ability to be passionate about the team and at the same time, bring a fun, family atmosphere to the ballpark. Buchannan doesn’t use profanity and doesn’t degrade the other team’s players. He’s just passionate.

“I like him because well you know, kids love him so he brings a good kind of family environment,” Niner Nation Gold president Ben Bowers said. “But then the students appreciate him because he’s really fun to watch, and he’s into it.”

Buchannan’s main sport is baseball, but he makes it to as many basketball games as his two jobs allow. At basketball games, Buchannan is as enthusiastic if not more than when he’s cheering on the Niner baseball team.

“I think he’s awesome. He’s passionate. You know, we don’t have a lot of people alumni age that are that outspoken,” Bowers said. “Baseball games are one thing, but then to see him showing up dressed up in a green man suit at basketball games are pretty cool.”

Paul Buchannan loves baseball, basketball and the Charlotte 49ers. And for him, being the uh-huh guy just gives him the channel to be as loud and as passionate about his team as he wants. For Buchannan being the uh-huh guy, there isn’t an end in sight.

“I love baseball, and I love basketball. I reckon I’ll be the uh-huh guy as long as I live.”

-- Josh Carpenter

Hawks grounded in Charlotte

According to St. Joe’s head Coach Phil Martelli, the Hawks ran into an “angry” Charlotte team on Wednesday night. Boy, did the 49ers ever look angry. Charlotte opened the game on an 18-6 run and never looked back as they romped over a downtrodden St. Joe’s squad 95-58.

The win moved Charlotte to 19-8 overall and 9-4 in A-10 play. More importantly, it clinched Charlotte at least a bye or a first-round home game in the A-10 Tournament next month.

“I certainly felt very early on that we played an angry team. A team that had lost three in a row,” Martelli said. “We wanted to pay special attention to Derrio Green from the perimeter and even from the first play of the game, we executed defensively, and Harris made a three.”

During Charlotte’s recent three-game skid, the Niners were shooting a lowly 33 percent from the field and just 22 percent from behind the arc. Wednesday night, they couldn’t miss. Charlotte knocked down 18-of30 (60 percent) of their shots from the field including 6-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half to blow the doors off the Hawks and build a 50-23 halftime lead. Their largest halftime lead of the season.

The second half wasn’t dissimilar in any way as the Niners shot 54 percent from the field and buried six more three-pointers. Charlotte’s second half lead built to as many as 40 at the 10:43 mark, 74-34 and the Niners finished off the Hawks in impressive fashion.

Charlotte had five players reach double-figures on the night, including a season-high 19 from senior guard Ian Andersen. Also adding to the Charlotte scoring attack was Chris Braswell (10 points), Shamari Spears (17 points), An’Juan Wilderness (10 points) and freshman Gokhan Sirin with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting including 3-3 from downtown.

“My teammates have gotten me shots all season I just haven’t made them,” Andersen said following the win. “I haven’t played as much as I did last year but I just hadn’t been making the shots as consistently as I had in the past.”

“My teammates did the same thing they do all the time which is work hard to try to get me open. I just felt really confident. Everyone was playing confidently tonight.”

Charlotte shot a season-high 56.9 percent from the field while knocking down 12-of-24 three-pointers. One of the telling tales from this game was the play of Charlotte’s bench, as they outscored the Hawks 46-17.

St. Joe’s had three players reach double-figures as Todd O’Brien scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, Darrin Govens scored 12 and Garrett Williamson added 11 more. The loss kept St. Joe’s winless on the road in conference play.

Charlotte faces George Washington Saturday at 6 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

Game Noters: Charlotte hosts St. Joe's

The Charlotte 49ers look to get back on track tonight as they welcome the St. Joeseph's Hawks into Halton Arena for a 7:30 match-up.

Charlotte (18-8; 8-4) looked primed for an NCAA run just two weeks ago before their match-up with conference power Dayton, but lost by 28 points that game and have lost two more since then to Duquesne and Xavier, respectively; the last two in Halton Arena.

The Niners' losses can probably be attributed to their poor shooting from inside and outside the three-point arc. Charlotte's best shooting performance (36.5 percent) during the three-game losing streak came on Saturday afternoon in a 81-67 loss to Xavier.

During the three-game skid, Charlotte is shooting 36 percent from inside the arc and 22.6 percent from downtown, bring their average to a lowly 32 percent.

With Charlotte's perimeter players struggling, opponents have been able to throw everything at Charlotte's inside players and shut them down over the last two weeks.

Although St. Joe's (9-18; 3-10) appears to be the perfect match-up for Charlotte to get back on track, they might give the Niners more trouble than most people think. Phil Martelli's crew took No. 20 Temple to double overtime on Saturday before eventually falling and also beat Dayton on their home floor.

The Niners' struggles can't only be attributed to offensive woes. They have also allowed opponents to shoot nearly 60 percent from inside three-point range and 34 percent from beyond the arc.

If the Niners can contain St. Joe's senior guard duo of Darrin Govens (13.1 points per game) and Garrett Williamson (12.1 points per game), they should be able to secure a much-needed home victory tonight.

Crawford leads Xavier past Charlotte

It doesn’t take long to appreciate the athletic ability and pure scoring genius of Xavier guard Jordan Crawford. Saturday afternoon didn’t take long either. Crawford scored 23 points and dished out six assists as Xavier trounced Charlotte 81-67 at Halton Arena in a battle of two of the A-10’s top teams.

Three other players scored in double-figures for the Musketeers (19-7; 10-2 A-10) as they swept the season series with Charlotte, both double-figure wins. The loss sent Charlotte (18-8; 8-4 A-10) reeling into it’s last four games of the season.

Charlotte has lost three straight games for the first time this season and after sitting at the top of the conference just three games ago, the Niners are now looking at missing the NCAA Tournament.

It was also Charlotte’s second straight loss in Halton Arena after losing only once in it’s first 10 games.

“It’s pretty obvious, Xavier played a great game and they’re a terrific team,” 49er Head Coach Bobby Lutz said following the loss. “Offensively, I think they’re the best team in our league because Crawford is very special and he’ll be making a lot of money someday. “

“I thought our effort was good enough to win, but I thought our execution was lacking against a team of this caliber. We’re just not shooting the ball well enough right now.”

That poor shooting Lutz was referring to is 36.5 percent from the field. Saturday marked the third consecutive game in which Charlotte has been held below 37 percent shooting from the field, all losses.

Jamel McLean added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Terrell Holloway scored 13 for the hot-shooting Musketeers, who won for the seventh time in the last eight games to stay near the top of the A-10 standings.

Charlotte endured the first 10 minutes and led 16-14 after a Shamari Spears jumper at the 10:08 mark of the first half. However, Charlotte’s shooting woes were about to begin. The Niners didn’t score a point over the next seven minutes as Xavier used a 14-0 run to build a 31-22 halftime lead.

Xavier’s lead swelled to 12 points at the 15:36 mark on a Crawford layup but Charlotte pulled back to within five, 45-40 at the 12:23 mark on a K.J. Sherrill layup. That’s as close as Charlotte would get though, as Xavier used a 16-6 run to extend it’s lead to 15 points 61-46 with 7:37 remaining.

Even with the large deficit, Derrio Green didn’t quit for the Niners, scoring 10 of his team-high 23 points in the final 1:52 of the game. Spears added 13 more points for Charlotte, who returns to action Wednesday night against St. Joseph’s in Halton Arena.

McCarthy leads Temple past Charlotte

Shannon McCallum and Ashley Spriggs both scored in double-figures for Charlotte but the 49ers (15-10; 8-3) lost on the road to the Temple Owls (19-6; 8-2) Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, 79-68.

"Temple began the game with a great deal more energy than our team," Charlotte coach Karen Aston said of the loss. "Temple's guards dominated the game."

Spriggs notched her 14th double-figure scoring game of the season with 13 points while McCallum added 26 more for her second consecutive game of more than 20 points. Freshman Jennifer Hailey turned in another solid effort with eight points and 11 rebounds to her credit. The 11-rebound game marked the second time this season that she has grabbed more than 10. Aysha Jones added eight more points for Charlotte.

On Saturday though, Temple’s Kristen McCarthy ruled the court. In 40 minutes of playing time, the forward scored a game-high 42 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

With Temple leading 13-9 at 13:42 of the first half, Charlotte got a free throw from Jones and a layup from Hailey to cut the Temple lead to 13-12 with 12:36 remaining. McCallum scored at the 7:11 mark to cut Temple’s lead to 20-18, but the Owls went on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to stretch their lead to 31-20 with 2:16 remaining in the first half.

The Niners cut Temple’s lead down to single-digits twice over the final minute of the half but Temple’s McCarthy knocked down a long-range three at the buzzer to give the Owls a 35-24 lead going into the break.

Temple came out firing in the second half and scored six of the first eight points, pushing their lead to 41-26 at the 17:58 mark. Temple kept the Niners at bay for a few minutes, but after Jessica Johnson converted an and-one opportunity, the Niners had cut Temple’s lead to 48-40 with 12:29 left.

Temple came right back at the Niners and pushed their lead to 12 points over the next 30 seconds at 52-40. Charlotte came back with a counter in the form of a McCallum three-pointer and a Johnson jump shot to cut the lead to 52-45 with 10:56 left.

Over the next four minutes, the Owls scored six of the next seven points to push their lead back to 12, 58-46 at the 7:50 mark but once again, the Niners answered with free throws from McCallum and Jones and a layup by Kendria Holmes to cut the lead to 60-54 with 6:29 remaining in the game.

Temple’s McCarthy stopped the Niner run with a three-pointer from the corner but Charlotte’s Jones came right back down the floor and knocked down a tre’ of her own, making the score 63-57. However, that’s as close as the Niners would get. Temple went on a 8-0 run over the next three minutes to push their lead to 14 points, 71-57 with just over two minutes left.

The Niners continue their three-game road trip Thursday night when they take on the Billikens in Saint Louis.

McCallum leads Niners to 11th straight home win

The Charlotte 49ers women’s basketball team continued their home-court dominance Wednesday night with a 64-58 win over visiting St. Bonaventure. The Niners won their 11th consecutive game at Halton Arena and will look to cap off a near-perfect home campaign when they face UMass on Feb. 28th.

“Halton is as good as anywhere I’ve ever been,” Niner Head Coach Karen Aston said of the home-court advantage. “In a women’s game, if you could get this lower bowl filled, I don’t think anybody could beat our team just because I think it’s that good of an atmosphere.”

The Niners dismantled the Bonnies right from the start and never looked back. Charlotte had four different players score as part of a 10-0 run to open the game and used stifling defense to hold the Bonnies to just 15 first-half points. Senior Shannon McCallum led the Niners in the first half with 15 points and four rebounds as the Niners took a 27-15 lead into the break. Charlotte dominated every statistical category in the first half, winning the rebounding battle 21-14, points in the paint 14-2, points off turnovers 15-6 and in fast break points, 10-0.

“It was a very good win. That was a very good team that we played and we played a very intelligent basketball game in the first half,” Aston said. “We still have lulls in the second half where we just go to sleep a little bit, but winning is winning. And at this point, you take a win.”

The Bonnies got to within seven points at the 16:07 mark of the second half, 29-22 but couldn’t contain McCallum and the rest of the Niners as they built their lead to as much as 14. Charlotte kept the Bonnies at a considerable distance for the rest of the half and was able to hold on just long enough for the six-point win.

Jessica Jenkins led St. Bonaventure with 18 points while Mega Van Tatenhove added 13 more as the Bonnies dropped to 17-8 on the season, 5-5 in conference play. Charlotte also had three players in double-figures, led by McCallum’s game-high 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Erin Floyd scored 12 points and seven rebounds while Ashley Spriggs scored 10 points and cleaned the glass with eight boards for Charlotte.

“I thought she (McCallum) was terrific today,” Aston said. “I thought she made some really timely plays for us. Not just her points, she had close to a double-double and had six assists. She just played a complete basketball game today.”

The win moved the Niners to 15-9 overall and 8-2 in the A-10, keeping them just two games back of sixth-ranked Xavier in the A-10 loss column. Charlotte hits the road for three straight games against Temple, St. Louis and Xavier before they return home to take on UMass on Feb. 28th for their Senior Day.

Murphy finishes 10th at Moonah Classic

Former Charlotte 49ers standout golfer Trevor Murphy finished 10th at this week’s Nationwide Moonah Classic in Victoria, Australia. Murphy, who was tied for 34th at the beginning of the final round with a three-round total of 216, even par, fired a final-round five-under par 67 to jump into 10th place alongside four other players. In the final round, Murphy carded six birdies to go along with one bogey to tie for the third-lowest round of the day.

Murphy stood at three-under par after two rounds but struggled in the third round with a 75 that included five bogeys and a double-bogey.

Originally the Ben Hogan Tour, the Nationwide Tour is the official proving ground of the PGA Tour and is home to players who have lost their PGA Tour card or failed to make it through Q-School. The Top 25 money winners at the end of the Nationwide season will earn their PGA Tour cards for the following season.

In his career at Charlotte, Murphy helped the Niners to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and made a name for himself when he qualified for the 2008 PGA Wachovia Championship at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club as an amateur.

Murphy also competed in his first major championship last June at the US Open at the famed Bethpage Black course in Farmingdale, N.Y. Murphy made the cut by one shot, thanks in large part to three consecutive birdies on his final three holes of the second round. Murphy stood at even par after two rounds but shot 77 and 80 in the final two rounds, respectively, to finish in a tie for 58th.

Murphy has been playing on the Gateway Tour in Arizona since graduation.

Green Machine

Derrio Green came through in the clutch again for the Charlotte 49ers. This time, he scored 18 of Charlotte’s final 23 points over the final 5:23 to give the Niners a 77-72 come-from-behind victory over the lowly Fordham Rams after Charlotte trailed by as many as 10 with under seven minutes remaining.

The win moved the Niners (18-5; 8-1) into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10 after both Xavier and Temple lost on the road, Saturday. Charlotte is now the only team in the Atlantic 10 with just one conference loss.

The Niners trailed by 10, 59-49 with 6:57 left on the clock but scored eight consecutive points to pull within two at 59-57 on a Green three-pointer. Green then scored Charlotte’s next eight points with a driving layup and back-to-back threes to pull the Niners to within one at 65-66 and after An’Juan Wilderness knocked down two foul shots, the Niners had their first lead since the 17:47 mark of the second half, 67-66.

Another Green three-pointer at the 2:07 mark gave the Niners a two-point, 70-68 lead. Fordham’s Chris Gaston tied the game at 70 on a pair of free throws at the other end and at the 1:11 mark, the game was tied at 72. Charlotte’s Green made a driving attempt at the other end and was fouled. After he made both foul shots, the Niners were up 74-72 and after Fordham missed a three-pointer, Dijuan Harris was fouled. Harris made one of the two foul shots to put the Niners up 75-72 with 16 seconds left. Gaston’s tying three-point attempt went begging at the other end in the final five seconds and Charlotte gained possession and subsequently iced the game with two more Harris free throws. Charlotte nailed nine of their last 10 free throws in the final 2:51 to ice the win, similar to what they did on Wednesday night against George Washington.

Green finished with a team-high 24 points for Charlotte, Shamari Spears added 15 points and 13 rebounds and Wilderness scored 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting performance from the field.

Gaston finished with a game-high 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Rams (2-19; 0-9), who haven’t won a game since their 93-77 win over Stony Brook on Dec. 8 and remain at the bottom of the conference.

Fordham outshot Charlotte 46 percent to 44 percent but were outrebounded by the Niners, 33-26. Charlotte struggled from the stripe again in the early-going but like they did on Wednesday night, knocked down key free-throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Just a year after Charlotte went 11-20 and failed to win a conference road game, the Niners have made a complete turnaround, winning four straight conference road games and seven overall. The seven-game winning streak is the second of the season for the 49ers.

Charlotte stays on the road for a Wednesday-night match-up with the Dayton Flyers at 7:00 p.m. The Flyers crushed conference-leading Xaiver 90-65 in Dayton on Saturday afternoon.

Spears' 31 powers Charlotte past George Washington

The Charlotte 49ers never quit Wednesday night. Not when Damian Hollis scored 13 of the Colonials’ first 19 points to put the Niners down 13, not when a foul or two didn’t go their way and not when they trailed by five with 1:25 left. Bobby Lutz’s teams have never quit on him, and they didn’t tonight in Charlotte’s 72-68 come-from-behind win over George Washington.

“I told our guys, we’re the hunted instead of the hunter,” Lutz said following the win. “I think we got GW’s best shot. And I think that kind of happens when you work your way to the top, even though it’s still miles to go.”

Shamari Spears scored a career-high 31 for Charlotte (17-5; 7-1), who stayed tied at the top of the A-10 after Xavier and Temple both got wins over UMass and Duquesne, respectively. The Niners also got a solid outing from Dijuan Harris (11 points, eight assists) and Phil Jones (10 points, five rebounds, three blocks). Charlotte also got a promising effort from junior Charles Dewhurst, who grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds and sparked Charlotte’s first-half comeback.

Hollis scored a team-high 23 points for the Colonials (12-9; 2-6) who lost for the sixth time in the last seven games and dropped their fourth straight road game. Freshman Lasan Kromah added 11 points and six rebounds and Aaron Ware scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Hollis came out firing for the Colonials, scoring 13 of the Colonials’ first 17 points and put the Niners in a deep, 19-6 hole early in the opening stanza. Over the next 10 minutes, Charlotte got points from five different players to cut the score to 26-25 with 6:58 left and trailed 35-32 at the half.

The game was back-and-forth over the first 10 minutes of the second half and the Niners eventually took their first lead of the game, 48-47 on a Spears 3-pointer with 11:14 remaining.

Kromah made a layup with 1:25 left to put the Colonials up 68-63 and in control of the game. That layup turned out to be the Colonials’ final basket of the game though. Derrio Green, the A-10 Player of the Week, had struggled all night, scoring just two points on 0-of-6 shooting from the field up until that point, but Green didn’t quit. The sophomore sensation knocked down two free throws to pull the Niners to within three, and buried the game-tying 3-pointer with 48 seconds left.

“Derrio had a rough game but he told me he wanted the shot when we were down three,” Lutz said of the tying 3-pointer. “Phil (Jones) set a great screen for him and he was able to knock it in.”

After Green’s tying 3-pointer, the Niners got a steal from Harris and he was fouled going to the rack at the other end. Harris made both foul shots to put Charlotte up 70-68 and Jones added two more foul-shots for Charlotte after a missed GWU shot to give Charlotte another win at Halton Arena.

The Niners improved to 9-1 at Halton this season and got another important win in their quest to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Charlotte will head north on Saturday to take on Fordham in a 2:00 p.m. match-up.

Preview for Wednesday's games

The Charlotte 49ers women’s basketball team (13-8; 6-1) travels to Dayton for an Education Day match-up with the Flyers (16-5; 4-2) at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Shannon McCallum is the Niners’ leading scorer, averaging 12.5 and 7.1 rebounds per game. Aysha Jones, who poured in 19 points in Charlotte’s 63-56 win over St. Louis on Saturday, is second on the team behind McCallum, averaging 10 points per game. Jones also scored her 1,000th career point in the win over the Billikens, becoming the 17th player in school history to do so.

Ashley Spriggs recorded her third straight double-figure scoring game against St. Louis with 10 points and is just behind Jones in scoring average with 9.9.

The Niners and Flyers have played five previous times with Charlotte winning four of those meetings. The Niners also won the last meeting between the teams, a 60-57 win in Halton Arena on Jan. 24, 2009. Spriggs was the only Niner in double-figures in that game with 16 points and former 49er standout Danielle Burgin cleaned up the glass with 14 rebounds.

The Niners have won both meetings between the two teams in Dayton including a 64-51 win in 2008 when the Niners got 21 points from Traci Ray.

Later Wednesday night, the men’s team will welcome the George Washington Colonials (12-8; 2-5) for a 7:30 match-up in Halton Arena. The teams will meet for the 20th time Wednesday night with GWU leading the all-time series 10-9.The Colonials have won six of the previous eight meetings but are just 4-6 at Halton Arena. The Niners are 8-1 at home this season while the Colonials are 6-3 on the road. Charlotte is 143-42 all-time at Halton Arena.

The Niners are coming off a 72-58 win over UMass on Saturday after Derrio Green torched the Minutemen for a career-high 34 points while the Colonials rallied from a 16-point deficit against Rhode Island on Saturday to get to within three but eventually fell to the Rams, 72-66.

GWU enters the game with 12 wins on the season, already two more than they recorded during the 2008-09 season. Last year, the Colonials didn’t record their 10th victory until Feb. 28th.

Players to Watch: George Washington

Senior forward Damian Hollis leads the Colonials’ scoring attack, averaging a team-high 13.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. His 6-foot-eight-inch, 215 pound frame isn’t the biggest body in the A-10 but his pure athletic ability allows him to get to the cup on a regular basis and draw plenty of fouls. The Colonials have also received a lift this season from freshman standout Lasan Kromah. The 6-5 guard is second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game and is just a great all-around player. Kromah can rebound, pass, defend, take over games offensively and must be respected from behind the arc.

Players to Watch: Charlotte

Sophomore guard Derrio Green has been on fire for the 49ers since conference play began. He scored 26 points in Charlotte’s 74-64 win over #15 Temple last Wednesday and lit up UMass on Saturday for a career-high 34 points. Green was named the A-10 Player of the Week and has averaged 18.3 points per game since conference play began. Freshman Chris Braswell has been all the 49ers expected of him this season and possibly more. The A-10 Rookie of the Year candidate has started 19 of Charlotte’s 21 games and is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Braswell is the team’s leading rebounder with 189 boards on the season.

Track in State College, PA.

The Charlotte 49ers track team made the long trip up to State College, PA. over the weekend for the Penn State National. The trip was a long drive, but well worth it, as several program records were broken in the process. Adu Dentamo was part of two record-breaking performances as he broke Russell Slade’s mile-long record by finishing in 4:06.99 to finish seventh.

"It was a very productive weekend for us especially at Penn State. It's a long trip but each year we return knowing it was worth it and this year was no different," Head Coach Robert Olesen said following the event. "A successful weekend was necessary as it was a big weekend for indoor track in the A-10 with many teams having great meets. The conference ranking lists will look very different this week than they did going into the weekend."

Dentamo was joined in the race by Aaron Kauffman, Dakota Lowery and Tadarinn Phronebarger to break the 4x800m record, which was set in 2009 at the same event. The four ran the race in 7:43.01 to take home second place in the invitational.
Already with a spectacular senior campaign, Sunita Brathwaite continued her success as she broke the 60m hurdles record by running an 8.47 in the preliminary heat, which automatically quailified her for the semifinals. Ashley Bethune and Lanaire Lindo both set season records for themselves by running 8.65 and 8.54 respectively, to qualify for the semifinals.

With the record-breaking performance in State College, the Niners have now broken seven men’s and two women’s record this season with multiple records being broken more than once. The Niners also recorded eight new Top 10 performances last weekend for the women while the men recorded six.

In the women’s 400m event, Ebonie Cunningham and Yvonna Hines both turned in solid performances. Cunningham finished seventh and was closely followed by Hines in eighth, who set a personal record with a time of 57.18. Olivia Brown secured fourth place in the 500m with a time of 1:15.47, marking the season’s best performance.

Amanda Goetschius continued her stellar season by breaking her own personal record in the mile run by making it around the track in 4:53.71 to take home third place. Goetschius was followed by fellow Niner Keara Thomas, who ran the mile in a season-best 4:58.04.

Over on the men’s side, junior standout Darius Law ran his two quickest times of the season in the 200m and 400m dashes. Law took home second place in the 200m with a time of 21.67 and placed fourth in the 400m with a time of 47.58. Continuing the trend of Charlotte athletes running their season-best time, Law was joined by Reggie Hill in the 200m, who finished 10th with a time of 22.26.

Just barely missing his personal best in the 800m, Kauffman finished fourth with a time of 1:52.77. Dakota Lowery came away from the 3,000m with a personal-best time of 8:28.98 to take home second place in the event.

The Niners also competed in the Carolina Classic on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus on Friday afternoon but the event was cut short due to the brutal winter storm that covered much of the continental U.S.

Before the event was called off, five Niners claimed top seven finishes. In the 60m hurdles, Dewayne Chandler and Jake Wainwright finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

"The cancellation of day two of the Carolina Classic was very disappointing but obviously out of our control. It will make the success of the events that were cancelled that much more important in two weeks at our next meet at Clemson,” Olesen said. “It's ironic that we sent a large contingent north to Pennsylvania yet it was the group close to home here in North Carolina that experienced a winter weather related cancellation."

The Niners’ next event will be at the Tiger Paw Invitational in two weeks in Clemson, S.C. Folliwing the Tiger Paw Invite, the Niners will compete in the A-10 Championships in Kingston, R.I.