COURTESY: Charlotte 49ers SID
– For the third straight game the Charlotte 49ers had five players in double-figures, the 49ers (4-12, C-USA: 1-3) dropped a heartbreaker 73-72 to Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (11-5, C-USA: 3-1) in their Conference USA home opener.
“It was obviously a tough loss,” Charlotte 49ers head coach Mark Price said. “We felt like we played well enough to win the game but we are disappointed in the way it ended up. My guys gave it all they had.”
Charlotte had five players in double figures for the third straight time, led by Braxton Ogbueze with 19 points. Curran Scott finished with 16 points and went 7-of-8 from the free throw line for the 49ers. Joseph Uchebo continued his dominance on the glass for the 49ers and snagged a game-high 18 rebounds to go along with eleven points. Jon Davis contributed 13 points, including 12 in the second half. Andrien White was the fifth Niner in double figures with 10 points.
“We have to learn how to win,” Ogbueze said. “We have to just pull together and get stops and win games like this. We have definitely improved but we want to win.”
Giddy Potts led the Blue Raiders with 29 points and went 9-of-11 from the field and 7-of-8 from three-point range. Darnell Harris was the only other double figure scorer for Middle Tennessee with 12 points and Perrin Buford scored eight points and snagged seven rebounds.
Charlotte shot 11-of-21 from the three-point line at 52.4 percent. The Niners also made 19 free throws compared to the Blue Raiders eight and forced 11 turnovers on the night.
The 49ers got off to a hot start from behind the arc and buried three-pointers on their first two possessions. Scott knocked down the first three-pointer in just his second career start and on the ensuing possession Ogbueze continued his hot shooting with a three of his own to give the 49ers a 6-4 lead. After the Blue Raiders went ahead 7-6, White joined the party from three-point range and gave the Niners a 9-7 advantage with his first triple of the night at 16:46 in the first half.
White pushed the edge to 15-10 with his second three of the night but Potts answered with a three of his own to trim the deficit back to two points with 12:51 in the second half. Middle Tennessee took the lead from the Niners behind a three by Harris, however Scott buried a baseline jumper the next time down the court to put the Niners back ahead 21-20 at the 9:46 mark.
Another three-pointer from White gave the 49ers a five-point lead with 7:45 on the clock at 28-23. The Blue Raiders went on a 10-0 run after White’s three-pointer capped by a jumper from Buford. Scott was able to get fouled for Charlotte and knocked down the two free throws to stop the Middle Tennessee run and cut the Blue Raiders lead to three points, 33-30, with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.
Ogbueze scored the final five points of the half for the 49ers starting with a three-pointer and ending with two free throws as the Niners went into the half trailing 37-36.
After Middle Tennessee scored the first points of the second half on a three-pointer, Davis buried a three-pointer for Charlotte. The three-pointer sparked a 5-0 run finished off by a Scott layup to help Charlotte take their first lead of the second half 41-40, with 18:18 on the clock.
The Blue Raiders answered with their own 5-0 run in attempt to pull away but for the third straight game Davis came up huge after the break and went on a personal 6-0 run to give the Niners a 47-45 lead with 14:17 on the clock. Scott capitalized on a technical foul from the Blue Raiders with two made free throws and then Ogbueze hit a three-pointer to extend Charlottes lead to 52-47 with 13:32 remaining.
Middle Tennessee pulled within one point but once again Davis knocked down a pivotal three-pointer to push the Niners lead back to four. However, the Blue Raiders refused to go away and took a 59-58 lead at the 8:18 mark. The Niners regained the lead 61-59 and with Middle Tennessee’s Reggie Upshaw trying to tie the game, Uchebo denied him at the rim to preserve the lead.
Potts hit a three-pointer to give Middle Tennessee a 62-61 advantage but yet again Charlotte responded to the Blue Raiders big shot with a big shot of their own as Ogbueze knocked down his fourth trifecta to regain the advantage with five minutes left in regulation. Joseph Uchebo knocked down two clutch free throws with the score tied just a couple minutes later and Charlotte went ahead 66-64 with 4:10 left in the contest.
Potts continued his strong night for the Blue Raiders with a pull-up jumper to give Middle Tennessee a three-point lead with 2:05 remaining. On the next trip down the floor for Charlotte, Uchebo completed a three-point play to tie the game back up 69-69.The Blue Raiders were unable to convert on their next offensive possession and then Obgueze sank two free throws to give the Charlotte a 71-69 lead with 1:15on the clock.
Harris made a three-pointer with 49 seconds left off an out-of-bounds play for the Blue Raiders and they took a 72-71 lead with under a minute to play. Curran Scott tied the game with a free throw with just over 30 seconds left and on the following possession, Reggie Upshaw drew a foul and made one out of two free throws with five seconds remaining. The 49ers were unable to get off a shot on their last possession as they lost 73-72.
The Niners return to Halton Arena this Saturday night, January 16 to take on UAB at 7 p.m.
