AP Photo

March 11, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Tasheed Carr scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead Saint Joseph’s to a 72-62 win over Charlotte on Wednesday in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Ahmad Nivins added 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks (17-14, 10-7), who now face Temple on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s final. Garrett Williamson finished with 12 points for St. Joe’s, while Idris Hilliard had 10.

Lamont Mack had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the 49ers (11-20, 5-12), while Ian Andersen added 12 points and DiJuan Harris finished with 11 points and nine assists.

St. Joe’s trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and were down 30-23 at the break. But they opened the second half with an 11-2 run and were in command for the rest of the game.

March 7, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Chris Matthews scored a game-high 22 points as St. Bonaventure defeated Charlotte, 74-68, Saturday to clinch a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Andrew Nicholson added 15 points and 10 rebounds for St. Bonaventure (15-14, 6-10), while Tyler Benson scored a season-high 12 points in his final regular-season game as a Bonnie.

For the 49ers (11-19, 5-11), DiJuan Harris led the way with 16 points. Charlie Coley III scored 13 points for Charlotte while AnJuan Wilderness, Lamont Mack and Ian Anderson had 10 each.

The Bonnies never trailed as they jumped to an 8-0 lead to start the game. The Bonnies led by as much as 22 points with 16:29 left in the game when Charlotte kicked off a 17-4 run and eventually cut the lead to four with 4:03 left to play. The 49ers looked to complete the comeback, but a big block from Nicholson iced the game for the Bonnies.

March 3, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10CollegeHoops

CHARLOTTE, NC — Richmond’s Kevin Anderson sliced down the lane and hit a contorting lay-up with 8 seconds to play to win the game for the Spiders, 64-62.

Lamont Mack had a career night for the 49ers, with a career high 32 points, as well as a career high 14 rebounds. Despite his stellar performance, Mack was obviously not satisfied with the outcome. Mack had a chance at a game winning three-pointer, but the shot rimmed out at the buzzer.

“I definitely had a good look. It just didn’t go in.” Mack said dejectedly. “It hurts. Me and Charlie wanted to go out on a win on senior night and we really wanted to get coach his 200th win (at Charlotte.)”

The game once again pitted two of the A-10’s best point guards against each other, with Richmond’s Anderson and Charlotte’s Dijuan Harris. In a reversal of Charlotte’s last game against Fordham, Harris was the one who was outplayed on both sides of the ball this time. Harris, who was 4th in the country in assists coming into this game, managed only 4 the entire game, as well as only 4 points. Anderson led the way for Richmond with 24 points and tacked on 6 rebounds.

According to 49er head coach Bobby Lutz, Anderson was the difference.

“We had no answer for Anderson tonight, that’s what it came down to. No matter what we did, no matter what adjustments we made, we couldn’t stop him. He was the difference tonight.”

Despite Anderson’s great guard play, it was a poor ball-handling night for both teams, with both squads having more turnovers than assists. In spite of the loss, Charlotte managed one of their best rebounding games of the season, with +14 ratio over Richmond, as well as a +10 ratio on the offensive boards.

With the loss, Charlotte falls to 11-18 overall and 5-10 in the conference. Their loss puts a trip to Atlantic City for the A-10 Conference Tournament in jeopardy. Their final game of the season is at St. Bonaventure on Saturday. Their postseason hopes, as well as St. Bonaventure’s, most likely will be determined by the outcome of the game.

Richmond closes their season out at home against 18th ranked Xavier on Saturday.

AP Photo

February 25, 2009 | AP Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Damian Hollis scored seven of his 25 points in overtime and George Washington defeated Charlotte 92-88 on Wednesday night.

Hollis opened the overtime period with five straight points to give George Washington (9-16, 3-10 Atlantic 10 Conference) an 84-79 lead with 2:21 left in the game.

Hollis also sent the game into overtime, tying the game at 79 on two free throws with 21 seconds left in regulation. The 49ers (10-17, 4-9) led 78-72, before Hollis hit a 3-pointer to bring the Colonials’ deficit to 78-75 with 45 seconds to go in regulation.

Rob Diggs added 22 points, Wynton Witherspoon scored 14 and Tony Taylor had 10 for George Washington.

Charlotte was led by Rashad Coleman with 22 points. DiJuan Harris scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds, Phil Jones added 12 points and Ian Anderson and Lamont Mack tallied 10 each for the 49ers.

February 8, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10 College Hoops

CHARLOTTE, NC – The University of Dayton may be known as the Flyers, but the Charlotte 49ers were the high-flying team Sunday, coming out on top 79-66.

Although Chris “Top Flight” Wright is known nationally for his dunking ability, it was Charlotte’s Charlie Coley and Rashad Coleman who delivered the pulse-racing highlights. Coley flushed several great alley-oops delivered by Dijuan Harris, while Coleman threw down two dunks off offensive rebounds. Coleman also added punctuation to the victory by slamming a one-handed windmill with 3 seconds left in the game.

Dayton’s Wright, who many consider a potential 1^st round NBA draft pick, was virtually shut-out by Lamont Mack and the Niners stingy defense, scoring only 5 points the entire game. Wright also committed 5 turnovers and eventually fouled out of the game. Mack’s counter-performance of 20 points may have had something to do with who he was going head to head with.

“They were definitely cocky,” said Mack. “Chris Wright is a great player, and I give him respect for that, but I feel I’m a great player too.”

Dijuan Harris netted his 3^rd straight double-double, with 13 points and 12 assists. Regarding his performance, Harris had this to say:

“They did a good job subbing in guards and trying to wear me down throughout the course of the game. I countered that by using my 4-man to help me bring the ball down the court and picking my spots when they gave them to me. I think I did a good job handling the pressure tonight, and I came out with 12 assists and 1 turnover.”

Dijuan Harris salutes the crowd's standing ovation.

The first half was marked by physical defense. The refs seemed to let the players play, and many possible fouls were not called, much to the dismay of the hometown crowd. The crowd became overly boisterous and unruly. This built to a swell, and the team was charged with a technical foul for their performance. Charlotte swung the momentum back their way late in the half by drawing a pair of charges.

Chris Johnson dominated the first half for the Flyers, netting 13 points and 7 boards in just 11 minutes on the floor.

It was an overall impressive team performance for the 49ers, with timely buckets being scored by number of players. From Charlie Coley’s alley-oop dunks, to Coleman’s put-backs to Mack’s timely 3-pointers, everyone contributed for the Niners.

“It was a great team performance. We really feel like this is the Charlotte 49ers that we can be,” said Head Coach Bobby Lutz.

In all, 9 players scored for the 49ers.

Charlotte heads to St. Louis to face Coach Rick Majerus and his Billikens on Wednesday night. Up next for Dayton is a home game against 9^th ranked Xavier, also on Wednesday.

Press Conference with Dijuan Harris, Lamont Mack, Rashad Coleman and Coach Bobby Lutz

Charlie Coley's electrifying dunks were not enough.

February 5, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10CollegeHoops

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With their postseason hopes possibly hanging in the balance, The Rhode Island Rams pulled together late and toppled the Charlotte 49ers, 71-64.

The Rams (16-7, 5-3 A-10) came into the game with an RPI ranking of 63: right on the cusp of being a bubble team. Despite trailing early and often, the Rams rallied behind star Jimmy Baron, who scored all of his 19 points in the second half. Despite controlling the tempo for most of the game, Charlotte (7-14, 1-6 A-10) simply could not stop Baron when it mattered the most.

Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron couldn’t agree more.

“Jimmy really did a great job in the 2^nd half of attacking the bucket. He kept moving off screens and really stepped up. I’m really proud.” Coach Baron said of his son’s performance.

49er’s head coach Bobby Lutz sang his praises as well.

“Baron really stepped it up in the 2^nd half. I thought we played him very well defensively, but he hit the big shots. The credit goes to him.”

The 49ers lead by as much as 11 late in the first half, but an 8-0 run by the Rams to close out the half stopped the bleeding.

“After (the 8-0 run) I thought we were in great shape,” said Coach Baron.

The Rams came out of the locker room firing early and silenced the crowd. A rim-rattling, 2-handed tomahawk dunk by Charlotte’s Charlie Coley quickly changed that. Despite adding several other jams that energized the home crowd throughout the second half, the biggest play Coley was involved in was a possible no-call on a dunk attempt with under a minute to go.

“I definitely felt like it was a foul; I definitely felt a push in the back, but that’s how it goes,” said Coley. “(The game) was really physical. A lot of trash talking and scrapping.”

One of Coley’s other electrifying dunks was an alley-oop from Harris that brought the Niners within 1-point, with only 2 minutes left to play. But like all big-time players do, Baron stepped up in crunch time and stole a lazy pass for an easy lay-up, which put the Rams up for good. He added a runner down the lane only seconds later, which proved to be the final dagger.

DiJuan Harris played all 40 minutes and netted his second straight double-double for the 49ers, with 10 points and 10 assists. It was his third double-double of the season.

Coley finished with 13 points and 7 boards in the losing effort, while Lamont Mack contributed 17 points and 7 boards, nearly identically matching his averages for A-10 play (17.8 ppg 7.0 rpg).

Kahiem Seawright’s 14 points and 9 rebounds complimented Baron’s 19 second-half points for the Rams.

URI heads to Philadelphia on Sunday to face Temple and possible A-10 POY candidate Dionte Christmas. Charlotte faces Dayton and Chris “Top Flight” Wright on Sunday at home.

January 31, 2009 | AP Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ian Andersen scored 19 and LaMont Mack added 18 to lead Charlotte to a 70-53 victory against Winthrop on Saturday night.

DiJuan Harris added 14 points and 10 assists for Charlotte (7-13), which had lost seven of eight coming into the game.

Charlotte took control with a 30-10 first-half run, and shot 65 percent in the second half to seal the win.

The 49ers had lost two straight Atlantic 10 road games by 20 points or more before tonight’s home contest.

Andre Jones and Charles Corbin scored 13 apiece for Winthrop, which connected on its first five 3-point attempts, then closed the first half by missing seven of eight from long range.

The Eagles (6-14), who opened the season 1-11, had won four of five before the loss. Reggie Middleton added 10 for Winthrop.

PHILADELPHIA – For the second game in a row the Temple Owls showed that they do not need their senior All-America candidate to be on top of his game for them to win.

The Owls (11-7, 3-1 A10) cruised to an 80-53 victory over the visiting Charlotte 49ers (6-12, 1-4) on Saturday night thanks to 19 points from senior guard Semaj Inge. He tied a career high that was set earlier this season at Penn State.

Inge was efficient from the floor as he shot 8-for-12. He also hit a career-high three three-pointers. The guard credited freshman Juan Fernandez for his success.

“The first Juan came over and played with us I just thought he was an outstanding passer so I just knew if I found those spots that I could get myself the ball I knew he would get it to me,” said Inge, who came into the night averaging just 6.5 points per game.

Dionte Christmas, who scored only eight points before being pulled from Temple’s 65-40 victory over the Saint Louis Billikens due to a cut over his eye, was not his normal self. He scored 12 points but missed five of his seven three-pointers and eight shots overall.

Still, it was evident from the outset that the 49ers were focusing their defensive efforts towards Christmas and Ryan Brooks. This allowed Inge to step up and deliver a big-time effort for the Owls.

“It looked like they were trying to hedge their defense towards Dionte and Ryan Brooks and it left Semaj open and he certainly knocked it out,” said Fran Dunphy, who guided the Owls to the 1,700th win in the program’s history.

Sophomore forward Lavoy Allen had another complete game for the Cherry and White. He put together the fifth double-double of the season – and the sixth of his young career – with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Allen also tied a career high with four blocks.

Fernandez once again drew oohs and aahs from the 5,700 in attendance. He dished out four assists but also committed three turnovers. To his defense, two of them were passes that should have been pulled in by his teammates. Dunphy, however, would like Fernandez to make plays without trying to impress everybody.

“I’d like him to get rid of the ’style point’ idea,” said Dunphy. “As coach Chaney and I have discussed, Pepe [Sanchez] did the same thing when he first got in there and Coach Chaney said he had to cure him of it so I’ll try my best to cure Juan of it. The spectacular will come when your as solid as you can possibly be.”

Brooks added 11 points and six rebounds. Senior co-captain Sergio Olmos played his best game since the Owls upset of Tennessee in December. He scored six points and picked up an assist in just 13 minutes on the floor.

The 49ers looked unmotivated from the start, which was surprising considering they came into the game on a high note after an impressive 69-64 overtime victory against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Wednesday night. Their only lead of the night came when DiJuan Harris hit a free throw to make it 1-0 with 17:50 left in the first half.

The Owls outscored Charlotte 43-16 from that point on to take a 26 point lead into the locker room at the half. Dunphy was impressed with the way his defense played the first 20 minutes of the game.

“We talk about that a lot as a group how we have to hang out hat on our defensive play because some nights you are going to come out and knock it out like we did on Thursday and we weren’t shooting it very well tonight,” said Dunphy. “I thought we had some decent looks but the ball didn’t go down. I was pleased about how we guarded, especially in the first half.”

Lamont Mack had an off night for Charlotte as he scored 12 points on just 3-of-15 shooting. He did pull down a team-high nine rebounds. Phil Jones led the 49ers in scoring with 14 points, one point under the career high mark he set against Tulsa earlier this season.

This game had some extra meaning for the Owls as the legendary John Chaney, who collected 516 wins and 17 NCAA appearances in his 24 years patrolling the sidelines on North Broad Street, was inducted into the Temple Hall of Fame in a ceremony before the game.

His successor on the sidelines had nothing book good things to say about Chaney after the game.

“He has an aura about the city of Philadelphia,” said Dunphy. “I went over the the receptions earlier today and listened to other people talk about him whether it was Governor Rendell or Peter Liacouras. He is revered around here and should be. For him to be inducted into the Temple Hall of Fame – it probably would’ve come long before this if he would’ve accepted it but knowing him he probably didn’t want to hear about it. He is a great man and as I have said to a couple of different people he has done so much for so many that you are never going to hear about and I think that is the quality of his person.

Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday as Charlotte will travel to Cincinnati to take on Xavier and the Owls will head north play the University of Rhode Island.

POSTGAME AUDIO: (right click and save as… if you have trouble opening files)
Ryan Brooks and Semaj Inge Post Game Audio
Fran Dunphy Post Game Press Conference

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com

 January 19,  2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Ahmad Nivins had 25 points and 10 rebounds, going 13-for-13 from the free-throw line in the second half, to lead Saint Joseph’s to a 78-69 victory over Charlotte on Sunday.

Tasheed Carr added 17 and Darrin Govens had 11 for the Hawks (9-7, 3-0 Atlantic-10), who won their season-best fourth in a row.

Nivins finished 13-of-15 from the free throw line as Saint Joseph’s hit its final 19 free throw attempts and finished 22-of-26.

Lamont Mack scored 23 points and Charlie Coley added 12 for Charlotte (5-11, 0-3), which dropped its fifth straight. Ian Andersen had 11 and DiJuan Harris contributed a career-high 11 assists.

A three-point play by Nivins gave Saint Josephs a 66-55 lead with 6:17 remaining. The 49ers responded with a 9-2 run — with four points from RaShad Coleman — to close within 68-64. They got within 70-66 on a dunk by Coley with 2:32 left, but the Hawks scored the next eight points to seal the win.

January 6, 2009  by WH | A10CollegeHoops

Here are my final noncon rankings and comments. Per usual, I am unlikely to post again until the end of league play once conference games begin.

Even though some teams have outperformed or underperformed my expectations, I can’t say any team has truly surprised me with the exception of GW (just terrible lately). I didn’t anticipate such a slow start for Charlotte, and UMass struggled more than I expected, but both teams had obvious question marks before the season began.

As of now, we only have two schools that look like NCAA teams, but Rhody has a decent chance and I expect another team to make a big run in league play (Temple with a full roster?). I would be thrilled to get three teams in given the so-so noncon performance.

Speaking of which, looks like I will finish 5 games below my noncon forecast. Ironically, this is the first year in awhile that I did not automatically deduct five wins from my combined forecast. Had I done so, I might be perfect! (not that it would be a good thing). Too many damned near misses and blown leads late in games.

VALEDICTORIANS

1)XAVIER (unchanged). The Muskies (11-2). The Musketeers bounced back from a two-game losing skid with convincing wins over Robert Morris and at Virginia. Frosh PG Terrell Holloway has taken over the starting position, allowing Dante Jackson to play more at his natural position of off-guard. Two other touted frosh, Kenny Frease and long-range gunner Brad Redford, have come on strong. Upperclassmen Derrick Brown and BJ Raymond have also stepped up. If Holloway continues to mature rapidly, the Musketeers have to be considered the clear league favorite.

2)DAYTON (unchanged). The Flyers (13-1) have beaten all the teams they are supposed to beat and have a marquee win over Marquette to put themselves in line for an NCAA bid. Dayton does struggle at times to put the ball in the basket, but the team is very athletic and plays topnotch defense. With just a little better shooting and scoring, the Flyers have all the tools to battle archrival Xavier for the league title.

HONOR ROLL

3)RHODE ISLAND (+1). The Rams (10-4) are a few points away – agonizingly close losses at Duke and Oklahoma State – from being locked in for an at-large bid. The team is still well positioned, but URI needs to rack up 11 or 12 wins in conference play and advance deep into the league tourney to merit consideration. Seven-foot sophomore Will Martell has been a surprise contributor while Jimmy Baron Jr. and Keith Cothran have performed like All-Conference players. The defense is still a bit unreliable, but the Rams are deep and athletic and have the talent to make a run for the conference championship.

AVERAGE STUDENTS

4)CHARLOTTE (+1). The 49ers (5-7) might be playing the best ball of any A-10 team outside of Xavier, Dayton and URI, but a rash of injuries has further depleted an already-thin roster. Sophomore forward An’juan Wilderness is out for a few weeks and sophomore Charles Dewhurst was lost for the year to a knee injury. Charlotte has no backup point guard and needs a few of its healthier players to step up. Hard to believe a 5-7 team might be the fourth best squad in the A-10, but every program in the conference has significant flaws.

5)RICHMOND (+1). The Spiders (8-6) are one of the most disappointing teams in the league despite eight wins. The team blew a late lead at Virginia Military Institute and has lost to all three in-state rivals (ODU and VCU are the others) even though the Spiders arguably have the most talent of the bunch. The defense has been soft and the offense mistake prone. Yet Richmond still has the size, athleticism and backcourt play to finish in the conference’s top four if the players learn how to close out games.

6) TEMPLE (-3). After beating Tennessee, the Owls (6-6) stumbled badly with three straight losses, including a whopper at Long Beach State. Temple rebounded Monday night with a win over Kent State. Sophomore forward Craig Williams had a career game (16 points) and touted Argentine PG Juan Fernandez (8 points, 4 assists) wowed the crowd in his debut. Temple’s problems have stemmed from poor point play – a concern of mine in my preseason review – and lethargic play among bigmen Lavoy Allen and Sergio Olmos. The addition of Fernandez and further contributions from Williams could make the Owls a big factor in conference play, however.

7)LASALLE (+2). The Explorers (8-5) beat several mediocre opponents to enter conference action with a three-game winning streak. Ruben Guillandeaux seems to be awaking from a season-long slumber while Rodney Green and Kimmani Barrett have stepped up their games. Defense and rebounding have kept LaSalle in most games, but postseason possibilities rest on whether the offense shows major improvement. The lack of consistent point play and outside shooting have been the team’s undoing.

*8*)ST. BONAVENTURE (unchanged). The Bonnies (7-3) recovered from a blowout loss at home to Niagara by topping Bucknell and Central Arkansas on the road. Granted, the competition wasn’t great, but two road wins of any sort is a big accomplishment for the rapidly recovering program. The 6-10 freshman sensation Andrew Nicholson looks like the program’s biggest recruiting find in a decade or more. Expect the Bonnies to be very competitive in most games, especially at home, and a winning record is by no means out of the question. The team now has enough talent to compete with almost any team in the A-10. Point play is just so-so, however, and the Bonnies lack outside shooting when Chris Matthews is cold.

9)DUQUESNE (+4). The Dukes (9-4) are one of the two big surprises in nonconference play, along with St. Bonaventure. They lost to the four best teams on their sked but have handled all the opponents from lesser conferences. Aaron Jackson, who’s playing like an A-10 First Teamer, is one of four “veterans” who have carried the program while the youngsters mature. Touted frosh Melquan Bolding has come on strong to join PG Eric Evans as top candidates for the league’s All-Rookie team. Shooter Jason Duty, formerly a recruited walk-on, has been a surprisingly big contributor. If only the Dukes had one legit bigman …

10) ST. LOUIS (+2). The Bills (9-5) have won seven of their last eight games against mostly weaker competition, though not without some struggles. Rick Majerus has his young squad playing solid defense and a controlled offense, but points sometimes are hard to come by. Frosh bigman Willie Reed looks like a future all-conference player and two other newcomers, PG Kwamain Mitchell and F Brian Conklin, have impressed. The Bills are a middle-of-the-pack team at best, but they will pull some upsets in league play.

BACK OF THE CLASS

11)ST. JOSEPH’S (-4). The Hawks (6-7) simply don’t have enough Division 1 players. Sophomore forward Idris Hilliard has shown marked improvement, but none of the reserves has contributed significantly. St. Joe’s has to rely on no more than 3-4 players, led by Ahmad Nivins, to do the scoring, but the core group doesn’t have tons of energy leftover for defense at the end of a game. The tank could run dry in late February unless Martelli develops a bench.

12)MASSACHUSETTS (-1). The Minutemen (5-8) followed a four-game win streak with a two-game skid in which the team lost by a combined 56 points to Houston and Vanderbilt. What to make? Impossible to say. Rookie coach Derek Kellogg sure looks green and senior point guard Chris Lowe is struggling mightily to run the new offense. Yet UMass is still capable of beating virtually any team in the A-10, as the win at Kansas attests. The first game in league play vs. Dayton could be telling.

CLASS CLOWNS

13)FORDHAM (+1). The Rams (2-10) have gotten a boost from 6-9 West Virginia transfer Jacob Green, but this team is headed for 20-plus losses. Much too young and much too small (-10 rebounding margin). Coach ain’t all that great, either.

14)GEORGE WASHINGTON (-4). The Colonials (6-6) aren’t worse than Fordham, but while the Rams are getting better, the Colonials have badly regressed. The team lost four straight to Vermont, Hawaii, Coppin State and … Longwood! Travis King is still not his old self, but at least he has an excuse. The same cannot be said for Rob Diggs, Wynton Witherspoon, Damian Hollis – or Karl Hobbs. GW is near the bottom of the league in scoring, shooting, rebounding and assists. Call the Coast Guard.

ALL-CONFERENCE PROJECTIONS (based on current performance)

POY

Dionte Christmas

FIRST TEAM

Dionte Christmas, Temple
Ahmad Nivins, St. Joseph’s
Derrick Brown, Xavier
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
Chris Wright, Dayton

SECOND TEAM

Tony Gaffney, UMass
Jimmy Baron Jr., Rhode Island
Damian Saunders, Duquesne
Ricky Harris, UMass
Keith Cothran, Rhode Island

THIRD TEAM

Jonathan Hall, St. Bonaventure
David Gonzalvez, Richmond
Tommie Liddell, St. Louis
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Dijuan Harris, Charlotte

DEFENSIVE POY

Tony Gaffney, UMass

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Tony Gaffney, UMass
Garrett Williamson, St. Josephs
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Ahmad Nivins, St. Josephs

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM

Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Eric Evans, Duquesne
Terrell Holloway, Xavier
Jio Fontan, Fordham
Brian Conklin, St. Louis

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

Tony Gaffney