COURTESY: Charlotte 49ers Athletics
CHARLOTTE, NC– Joseph Uchebo had 24 points and 20 rebounds and Andrien White had 30 points and 10 rebounds to help the Charlotte 49ers (5-13, C-USA: 2-4) give Marshall (9-10, C-USA: 5-1) their first Conference USA loss of the season with a 103-95 victory.
“We’ve been talking about how you have to learn how to win and close games out and tonight we did that,” 49ers head coach Mark Price said. “One of the keys was staying engaged in the game. We talked about if we get up they’re not going to quit. With their three-point shooting, they’re going to keep coming so I just kept preaching that in the huddle. We’ve got to continue to stay engaged. They had the look in their eye tonight that they wanted to finish the game and get a win.”
Davis joined White and Uchebo as one of three 49ers to eclipse the 20-point mark. He scored 21 points and added seven assists and six rebounds. White went 8-of-9 from three-point range including making his first eight threes. Uchebo had the first 20-20 performance by a Niner since Curtis Withers in 2006. Curran Scott added 18 points and went 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
James Kelly led Marshall with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Jon Elmore knocked down five three-pointers and finished with 27 points for the Herd. Ryan Taylor chipped in 17 points and Stevie Browning finished with 14.
The 49ers shot 51.5 percent from the field and shot 79.3 percent from the free throw line. Charlotte went 10-for-15 from three shooting 66.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Niners out-rebounded Marshall 45-to-29.
Charlotte’s first basket of the night came at the 18:26 mark as White buried his three-pointer giving the 49ers a 3-2 lead. After Marshall gained a 7-5 advantage, White knocked down his second three-pointer of the night putting Charlotte back in front, 8-7. Kelly came down the court and scored on a layup for the Herd and on the ensuing possession Scott converted on a three-point play for the fourth lead change of the game at the 16:13 mark in the first half.
The 49ers pushed their lead to seven after an 8-0 run jumping ahead 19-12 following a tough mid-range jumper from Davis with 13:48 left in the first half. The 8-0 run was sparked by a jumper from Uchebo and featured two free throws from Scott along the way.
The two teams traded baskets over the next couple minutes with the 49ers maintaining their lead. Marshall threatened to take the lead as they were able to cut Charlotte’s lead to 23-22 with 11:14 left in the contest. But Charlotte’s freshman backcourt took over and started what became a 10-0 run. White began the run with a three-pointer and Davis finished the run with a three-pointer giving the 49ers a 33-22 lead with 7:01 left in the half.
Then, Marshall went on an 8-1 run cutting Charlotte’s lead to 34-30 with just over four minutes left in the half. Charlotte scored 12 of the final 19 points of the first half taking a 46-37 halftime lead.
Scott scored the first four points for the 49ers to open the second half. Davis made his mark early after the break also, taking a steal the length of the court and getting fouled. Davis connected on a pair of free throws giving Charlotte their largest lead of the game up until that point 52-39 with 18:44 left.
A few minutes later, Marshall cut Charlotte’s lead to 56-52 with 15:45 left in the second half, after outscoring the 49ers 13-4 over a three minutes stretch.
White remained perfect from behind the arc after burying a three-pointer at the top of the key putting the Niners in front 59-52 with 15:25 left. The score remained that way over the next couple minutes until Davis and Kelly exchanged buckets making the score, 61-54. White then reached the 20-point mark in dramatic fashion, knocking down his sixth three-pointer of the game.
White again hit a three-pointer and improved to a perfect 7-of-7 from behind the arc at the 12:24 mark and then Davis and Uchebo scored consecutively to put Charlotte ahead by 15, 69-54, with 12:04 on the clock.
Charlotte pushed their lead to 19 points, 81-62, when Uchebo scored inside with 7:25 on the clock.
“We knew we had an advantage with Joseph,” Price said. “We tried to get him the ball as much as we could and when he did get the ball, he made good decisions.”
With 6:59 remaining, White buried his eighth three-pointer giving Charlotte an 84-65 lead.
Uchebo snagged his 20th rebound of the game at the 4:17 mark to complete his 20-point, 20-rebound performance. Marshall was able to pull within six points with 24 seconds remaining but Scott sunk two game-clinching free throws and the Herd could not pull any closer.
Charlotte concludes their four-game home stand when they play WKU in Halton Arena this Saturday, January 23 at 6 pm.
