The Charlotte 49ers, even with the downward spiral that has been the last six games, will still have the opportunity for a first-round bye in the A-10 Tournament when they face Richmond on Saturday afternoon at Halton Arena.
The Niners have lost five of the last six but can still get a first-round bye with a win over No. 23 Richmond, a loss by St. Louis at Dayton, and a loss by URI at UMass. Unlikely? Yes. But not impossible.
The Niners are responsible for Richmond's only home loss of the season, a 71-59 win on Jan. 20. This combined with the fact that Saturday is Senior Day for Charlotte should give the Niners a great chance at an upset.
The Niners will also be looking for help from the Flyers as they take on St. Louis. The Billikens took the first meeting between the teams 68-65 in OT, but that was in St. Louis. The Flyers have lost only once at home this season, a 65-64 loss to URI when URI's Marquis Jones hit a three-pointer with five seconds left.
Charlotte's biggest obstacle might be URI. The Rams face a UMass team that hasn't won since Valentines Day and has lost it's last three by more than 10 points. Needless to say, Ricky Harris might be Charlotte fans' best friend on Saturday afternoon.
Back to the game at hand. The Spiders have won nine of their last 10 with the only loss coming in a 78-76 double-overtime thriller against Xavier at Cintas Center and haven't lost in regulation since Charlotte's 71-59 win.
Charlotte Head Coach Bobby Lutz has been stuck on win No. 399 for nearly 10 days now and will still be looking for career win No. 400 against the Spiders. Even with the poor play over the last month, the Niners are still enjoying a turnaround that ranks them in the top 10 Nationally with an eight-win improvement from last year's 11-20 record.
Richmond has three players averaging more than 10 points per game and are led by junior guard Kevin Anderson (17.6 ppg), who has reached double-figures in all but three games this season. Charlotte kept Anderson in-check for just 10 points in the first meeting. Justin Harper led the way for Richmond in the first meeting with 24 points, six rebounds, three, blocks and three assists. The Niners got a 20-point performance from junior forward Shamari Spears and 13 points from Derrio Green.
With a loss, the Niners will host a first-round game in the A-10 Tournament on Tuesday at a time TBA.
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