Shamari Spears once again proved his value to the Charlotte 49ers, putting away 28 points in Charlotte's 88-74 win over Yale on Monday. Spears had 10 points early, but foul trouble sent him to the bench midway through the first half. Once Spears went to the bench, Yale cut a once 14-point Charlotte lead to one at the break when Yale's Jordan Gibson nailed a half-court shot.
"Shamari being out of the game hurts us offensively," 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz said. "The difference in that stretch was that we turned it over and were not good defensively. We knew Gibson was a good player, we just didnt know he was a good shooter. He is a great athlete."
Derrio Green also provided a strong effort for the 49ers (3-1) who improved their record to 2-0 all-time against Yale. Green scored a career-high 18 points, knocking down six three-pointers and pulling down five rebounds.
"I finally got the monkey off my back," Green said. "It's really due to the other players and coaches. They believe in me and I believe in myself. Right now I feel like I can shoot it."
Senior point guard DiJuan Harris also got in foul trouble and had to spend some unusual minutes on the bench, paving the way for Green to run the point.
"I'm really trying to do better on the defensive end and help DiJuan out," Green said. "It was a good learning experience, as the game went on, I felt more comfortable playing the point guard. I just did it long enough to get DiJuan back in there."
Junior center Phil Jones came off the bench to score 10 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had four blocks for his second game in double-figures this season.
Overall, Charlotte had four players score in double-figures and shot a season-best 51 percent from the field. The Niners had nine first-half turnovers but pulled it together in the second half with only two turnovers.
Charlotte will look to move to 4-1 on the young season when they take on Hofstra tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Hempstead, NY.
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