Three nights earlier against Saint Louis, the Charlotte 49ers (13-5; 3-1 A-10) didn’t hit a three for the first time since the 1987-88 season, a streak of 669 games. Wednesday night against Richmond, the Niners knocked down 8-of-15 3-pointers and used a ball control offense to beat the Spiders for the first time since the 2006-07 season, 71-59.
The loss was the first of the season at home for Richmond (14-6; 3-2 A-10) and Charlotte’s first conference road win in more than a year after going 0-8 last season. Shamari Spears led Charlotte in the scoring department again with 20 points and five rebounds; his sixth 20+ point game this season. Derrio Green added 13 important points for the Niners and Javarris Barnett came off the bench to record his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Charlotte got off to a bit of a slow start again, with Richmond jumping out to an 11-4 lead just six minutes into the game, capped off by a Justin Harper dunk. The Niners counter-punched with a 6-1 run of their own over the next two minutes to pull to within 12-11 with just over 12 minutes remaining.
Richmond pulled out to another lead when Ryan Butler nailed a three to make the score 27-20 with 6:32 remaining. That’s when Charlotte went on one of their patented runs. The Niners got buckets from five different players over the next 6:32 to go on a 12-0 run and end the half with the lead, 32-27.
Richmond came out firing in the second half and took the lead on a pair of David Gonzalves 3-pointers 45-41 with 12:44 remaining. Charlotte countered with a blow that would virtually put the Spiders away though. The Niners ran off 11 straight points, six of which came on Green 3-pointers and took the lead, 52-45.
Charlotte used stifling defense for the remainder of the game and held the Spiders to just one field goal over a 10:46 span to put the game away. Charlotte knocked down 9-of-10 free throws over the final 1:20 to secure the win and get their first win over Richmond in four tries.
A big reason why Charlotte was able to secure this important road victory was their ball-control offense. It was perhaps the most patient game the 49ers have played all season. The Niners worked the clock down on virtually every possession with the guard tandem of Green and Dijuan Harris and took high-percentage shots; getting the ball inside to Spears and getting to the foul line early and often.
Charlotte also outrebounded the Spiders 38-28 and dished out five more assists; Justin Harper had a game-high 24 points for Richmond in 36 minutes.
The 49ers return to the hardwood Saturday afternoon at La Salle.
Game Notes: Richmond center Dan Geriot was frustrated all night long, scoring just two points on 0-of-4 shooting. At one point in the second half, Geriot received a technical foul after throwing the ball in frustration at 49er freshman Chris Braswell…..The win for Charlotte was the first over a Top 50 RPI team (31)….Junior Charlotte forward An’Juan Wilderness played the opening three minutes and did not return.
No comments:
Post a Comment