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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.

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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.

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.

January 21, 2009 | AP Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lamont Mack scored 23 points and Charlotte won its first Atlantic 10 Conference game of the season in a 69-64 overtime win against Massachusetts on Wednesday night.

Ian Andersen scored 13 for Charlotte (6-11, 1-3), including a 3-pointer that tied the game with 33.3 seconds left in regulation. He also hit four foul shots in overtime.

Ricky Harris scored 19 and Luke Bonner had 15 for Massachusetts, which saw its eight-point lead disappear in the final 5:30 of regulation. Anthony Gurley scored 10 for Massachusetts (7-10, 2-2).

Massachusetts regained control with a 18-0 run midway through the second half, taking the lead on David Gibbs’ drive at 43-42. Charlotte’s skid at the end of the second half began with a foul on Mack after a missed dunk by Tony Gaffney and a technical foul on coach Bobby Lutz.

January 7, 2009 | AP Press

PITTSBURGH, PA – Aaron Jackson scored five of his 30 points in the last 1:16 and Duquesne rallied after repeatedly giving away leads to defeat Charlotte 76-71 in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams Wednesday night.

Bill Clark had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Dukes (10-4), who trailed 69-67 after Javarris Barnett dunked off a missed shot with 5:19 to play. The 49ers (5-8) scored only two more points after that, Charlie Coley’s free throws with 48 seconds remaining, in losing for the second time in six games.

Coley scored 17 points and Ian Andersen and Lamont Mack had 15 each.

Jackson scored to give Duquesne a 71-69 lead with 1:16 remaining and then made three of four free throws during the final 25 seconds, giving him 1,022 career points in his 100th game.

Duquesne led by as many as seven points in the first half, then couldn’t hold separate leads of six and five points in the second half before ending a four-game losing streak to Charlotte that dated to 1993.

December 21, 2008 | AP Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — DiJuan Harris scored 20 points and Charlotte had five other players in double figures to beat Youngstown State 100-80 on Sunday.

RaShan Coleman added 16 points and Charlie Coley III had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the 49ers (4-6), who led by as many as 28 points in their third consecutive win.

Phil Jones had 13 points and Lamont Mack and Ian Andersen scored 11 each for Charlotte, which broke the 100-point mark in a game for the first time in four seasons.

Vytas Sulskis hit five 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Penguins (2-8), who lost for the sixth time in their last seven games. Kelvin Bright had 16 points and Sirlester Martin 14.

Charlotte shot 67.9 percent from the field in the first half (19 of 28) to take command, then extended its lead to 28 points twice in the second.

December 6, 2008 | AP Press

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Ian Andersen came off the bench to score 18 points including six 3-pointers to lead Charlotte to a 66-64 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday.

An’Juan Wilderness had 17 points and DiJuan Harris had a game-high five assists for Charlotte (2-6), which shot 41.7 percent from the field for the game.

Charlotte trailed 32-31 going into the break, but came back to outscore Southern Illinois (3-4) 35-32 in the second period.

Tony Boyle led the Salukis with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Bryan Mullins had 13 points for Southern Illinois while Carlton Fay and Wesley Clemmons each added 12 points. Clemmons had four 3-pointers.

The game was tied 11 times and the lead bounced back-and-forth eight time in a tight match.

The Salukis shot 40.4 percent from the field and were able to make 24 points off turnovers.

November 30, 2008 | AP Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Josh Akognon scored 26 points to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 92-84 overtime victory over UNC Charlotte in the seventh-place game of the 76 Classic on Sunday.

Marcio Lassiter added 13 points and Papa Guisse grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds for the Titans (3-4), who broke a three-game losing streak and made a season-high 12 shots from 3-point range.

DiJuan Harris and Ian Andersen each scored 15 points for the 49ers (1-6), who lost their sixth consecutive game and are off to their worst start since the 1984-85 season.

Aaron Thompson made a lay-in to give Fullerton a 77-75 lead with 3:17 left in overtime. Charlie Coley had a chance to tie the score but missed two free throws with 1:31 remaining.

Akognon then converted two free throws and Lassiter made a 3-point shot to extend the Titans’ lead to 82-75 with 54.5 seconds left in overtime.

Fullerton led by as many as 12 points but failed to score in the final 4:02 of regulation, as Charlotte used a 7-0 spree to force a 73-73 tie. An’Juan Wilderness made a follow shot with 49 seconds to play to tie the score.

November 27, 2008 | AP Press

At times this season, James Harden has been a one-man offensive show for Arizona State. The Sun Devils will likely need a more balanced performance on Thursday night when they take on the Charlotte 49ers in the first round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

With the rest of his teammates hitting only 26.5 percent of their shots, Harden went 12-of-19 from the field and had a career-high 33 points with 12 rebounds on Sunday in the 14th-ranked Sun Devils’ 61-40 win against Pepperdine.

Harden, whose previous high was 27 points in a 99-90 overtime victory versus California on Jan. 17, had as many points (33) as Pepperdine did when he exited the game in the second half.

“My teammates did a real good job of finding me,” said the 6-foot-4 guard, who scored the team’s first 17 points of the second half.

Harden is averaging 25.0 points and has accounted for 37.5 percent of the Sun Devils’ offense this season. The team’s four other starters shot a combined 2-of-16 against the Waves as Arizona State (3-0) made a season-low 39.6 percent of its attempts from the field.

“Obviously, James was the difference for us with his offensive production,” coach Herb Sendek said.

Harden is hitting 61.0 percent (25-of-41) of his shots and Arizona State is shooting 50.4 percent this season. The Sun Devils, though, will be facing a Charlotte team that’s held its opponents to 40.6 percent shooting.

Defensively, Arizona State has improved each game. Against Pepperdine, the Sun Devils had a season-best 13 steals, forced 20 turnovers for the second time this season, and held the Waves to 26.7 percent shooting.

Arizona State has held opponents to 35.3 percent shooting through three games.

While the Sun Devils go for their first 4-0 start in three seasons, Charlotte looks to avoid its first four-game losing streak since it dropped its final four of the 2004-05 season.

Since their season-opening 77-59 win against UNC Greensboro, the 49ers (1-3) have dropped three in a row by a combined five points.

In Saturday’s 71-70 loss to Clemson, Charlotte forced 17 turnovers and held the Tigers to a season-low 41.8 percent shooting, but missed 12 of its 19 free-throw attempts.

“It was an exciting game,” Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz told the school’s official Web site. “This is the best team we’ve played so far and I think this is the best we’ve played. The foul line was the difference. Seven-of-19 from the foul line in a game that’s this close – that’s a huge difference.”

Charlotte had made 83.6 percent (61-of-73) of its free throws in the first three games.

Junior guard Ian Andersen scored a career-high 21 points on seven 3-pointers Saturday, while Charlie Coley – the 49ers’ leading rebounder at 6.3 per game – posted a season-high 11 boards with nine points.

In the teams’ only previous meeting on Dec. 30, 2000, Arizona State defeated the 49ers 91-78 in the consolation game of the ASU Holiday Classic.

The winner of this game faces either Providence or Baylor on Friday night in the semifinals.