Ian Andersen celebrates one of his five 3-pointers

February 19, 2009 | by Jordan Keyser A10CollegeHoops

CHARLOTTE, NC -The Charlotte 49ers managed to stave off a well-balanced Xavier attack to upset the 17th ranked Musketeers, 65-60.

The Charlotte faithful donned all-white in support of their “whiteout” game. Guard Ian Andersen obviously wanted to keep up with theme by being white hot from 3-point range, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. He lead all scorers with 16 points and had 6 rebounds to boot.

“It all starts with Dijuan. He’s running the show out there, finding players and taking it to the rack. He’s playing smart, being the floor general out there. It really does all start with him. He really controlled the game,” Andersen said modestly.

Harris had 10 assists, marking the 5th time in his last 6 games that he achieved double-digit assists. He currently leads the A-10 in assists-per-game with 8.3 APG. Harris ranks 5th nationally in that category.

And while it all starts with Dijuan Harris, tonight it certainly all ended with Lamont Mack. Despite a very poor first half, Mack scored all 12 of his points in the last 8 minutes of the game, capping it off by hitting a huge baseline 3-pointer with 30 seconds left that put the 49ers up for good.

“Coach had faith in me. I wasn’t really hitting those shots all game long, but he drew some plays up for me down the stretch and I was able to convert,” said Mack.

Coach Bobby Lutz added, “Lamont was struggling, but he made the big shots at the end, obviously. That’s what matters.”

Mack scored 12 out of Charlotte’s 15 points during his scoring streak.

Lamont wasn’t the only one to hit big shots for the Niners. An’Juan Wilderness hit big free throws in the late seconds to officially ice the game, including two with 11 seconds left. Xavier’s C.J. Anderson hit a quick lay-up to cut the lead in half but Wilderness’ clutchness at the line proved to be too much.

Charlotte's student section storms the court.

“The atmosphere was…I can’t even put it into words right now. It’s a great feeling. I can’t remember it ever being like this.” Wilderness said of the hometown’s display of pride.

Despite the tough loss, Xavier had six of its nine players score more than 7 points. Coach Sean Miller didn’t have as optimistic of a viewpoint.

“(Charlotte) is playing their best basketball of the season. We are not playing well. Things need to be fixed and they will be, starting at practice tomorrow.” Coach Miller said in a very brief statement released by the university.

It was an all-around glorious night for Charlotte, which included former star and Conference USA Player of the Year Eddie Basden’s jersey being retired in a ceremony at halftime.

Charlotte improved to 10-15 (4-7 A10), while Xavier fell to 21-5 (9-3 A10). The Musketeers have dropped 3 out of their last 4 games after getting off to an 8-0 start in A-10 Conference play.

The 49ers hope to keep things rolling, as they head to Richmond on Saturday. Xavier looks to end its skid, facing George Washington at home on Sunday.