Following what happened Wednesday night, the 49ers had the challenge of attempting to rebound against the Atlantic 10′s flagship program, Xavier. Javarris Barnett had a career night, but it wasn’t enough as Charlotte (10-10, 2-5) came up short to Xavier (14-7, 5-3) and lost, 74-70.

Barnett got the game started with a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Charlotte’s next four shots were all missed threes. Xavier did not get off to a great start and some attempts from inside the paint earlier might have made a difference later. After a few minutes of back-and-forth scoring, the Musketeers were able to put some distance between themselves and Charlotte. Xavier found themselves up 30-20 with 3:44 remaining in the first-half. Charlotte then went on a 13-7 run, aided by three-point field goals from Barnett, DeMario Mayfield and Derrio Green. Two free throws from Terrence Williams got Charlotte within four at the break, trailing Xavier 33-37.

Charlotte came out of the break aggressive, and chipped away at Xavier’s lead slowly but surely. Barnett’s third three-pointer got Charlotte within one, 47-46, with 14:17 left in the contest. Minutes later he would tie the score on his fifth three-pointer, the score knotted at 52 all. Xavier answered as we all expected a team like Xavier to do. A three-pointer from Brad Redford broke the tie and began a 19-10 run by the Musketeers that would put Xavier on top 71-62 with 2:34 remaining.

With Xavier having just scored seven straight, the 49ers found the strength to make one last run, just like against Saint Louis two weeks earlier. Having gotten within three points on a Chris Braswell jumper, Xavier was able to burn 33 seconds off the clock before Tu Holloway bricked an attempted dagger. DeMario Mayfield was sent to the line with 12.8 seconds and after having made the first, the second rolled out of bounds, and in possession of Xavier. Holloway then got himself two daggers in the form of free throws getting the score to its final margin.

Beating Xavier is and always will be a a tough task, but after the disaster that happened against Temple the performance of the Niners was respectable. Had Pierria Henry been healthy he could have very well been the difference in the outcome. Henry not only brings his own defensive spark to the court, but the team reflects his intensity on defense. With him in the game, Redford doesn’t find himself wide open as easily as he did.

Barnett scored 27 points on 9-15 shooting, including a near perfect 7-8 from behind the arc. Without Barnett, the rest of the team shot 31%, we can’t expect Barnett to catch fire like that every night.  The guys on the court have to figure out how to make their shots. DeMario Mayfield got another double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds. He made six of his eight free throw attempts and his improvement in this aspect of the game is appreciated. Braswell scored 12 points on 4/7 shooting, but the Niners will continue to lose games if he is only getting seven shots a game.

Well that was a little unexpected. Or maybe it wasn’t? Whatever your feelings were ahead of Wednesday’s non-conference contest against Kennesaw State, the outcome left much to be desired. While the shooting was there for the Niners, who improved to 10-7 on the season (2-2 in league play), sharp outside shooting by the visiting Owls (3-16) and a rebounding advantage (through most of the game) kept KSU in the game much longer than the sparse crowd in attendance would have liked.

Despite the relatively close score, the Niners did well to limit Markeith Cummings, the explosive F who typically leads KSU in scoring.  Cummings managed 14 points; however, it took him 13 shots to get there. What kept the Owls close was the inside play of Aaron Anderson and the outside marksmanship of Delbert Love, who obviously had a sense of agape for the 3 point shot which was certainly reciprocated (unlike any of cpip’s advances). Anderson, though he managed just 6 points, collected a whopping 17 rebounds including 5 on the offensive glass. Anderson’s pigmentally-

challenged frame (you know what we mean) stood at a mere 6’7″, his technique was unremarkable (wasn’t boxing out) and his athleticism was nothing to write home about (see the previous note on melanocyte content); however, he was literally everywhere on the defensive glass. What’s left was effort and Anderson certainly displayed that as he and his teammates routinely beat the Niners to loose balls and rebound opportunities. It was a lethargic effort for the men in green and Kennesaw State seized upon that indifference to make a game that shouldn’t have been close way too close for comfort.

Matching the degree of Anderson’s rebounding accomplishments on offense was the shooting of Delbert Love. Cupid’s arrows were connecting from long range as Love connected on 6-12 from outside the arc on his way to a game-high 26 points. Love also had several layups that were not as strongly contested as they should have been and routinely engaged in trash-talk with Pierria’ Henry.  But who can blame him?  He was getting the better end of it on offense and was almost single-handily keeping his team in the game offensively. Spencer Davis, er Dixon gave the Owls a little lovin’ as well with 13 points, the only other Owl in double figures in scoring; however, it took him 16 shots to get there. Kobe Bryant is probably nodding somewhere in approval.

The Niners were led in their efforts by So. DeMario Mayfield who finished with a team high, and career high, 25 points. The athletic G/F from Georgia showed a resurgence in his jump shot, connecting on 3-6 from outside. Add to that, an array of nice finishes at the rim, including two thunderous first half dunks that left us thinking his eye appointment last Friday may have served his shooting well. The only surprising aspect of his performance was the relative lack of rebounds (3) and assists (1) he finished with. The later was mostly the result of being the recipient of some nice passing (Pierria’ Henry with 7 assists), as the Niners finished with 18 assisted shots for 21 FGs, an outstanding ratio.

Javarris Barnett finished with 13 points on 4-7 shooting from outside and Chris Braswell was the only other Niner in double figures finishing with a quiet 13 points on 4-6 shooting from the field. Though Braswell did not receive as many touches or even shot attempts as one would normally like, he made up for it with selectivity and some of his best passing of the season, adding a pair of assists to go with only 1 turnover.

One player who stood out for the Niners was local Fr. Terrence Williams.  Williams played 20 minutes and collected 7 points and 9 rebounds.  Those numbers would have been better if he managed to convert his free throws though, as he missed 5-10 from the charity stripe.  Still it was a good all-around performance for Williams, particularly with his rebounding as he helped turn what was once a game-long rebounding disadvantage to a +7 margin by the end of the game.

Reading this column, one might get the sense that despite the close score, there was a number of good individual performances.  That would be true.  What kept the game close though was a collective lack of effort/urgency from the Niners, particularly on the defensive end. Delbert Love got free way too many times for open shots, which he hit most of. Many loose balls ended up in the hands of Kennesaw State players, most often it seemed to be Aaron Anderson’s hands. Though the Niners only turned the ball over 10 times, fans couldn’t help but feel those turnovers were sloopy, disinterested turnovers which came from our own errors, not anything Kennesaw State was doing.

The path turns much more difficult this Saturday with a trip to Foggy Bottom to face the George Washington Colonials. Despite the 7-11 record, GW is already 2-2 in conference play with a thorough 18 point win over Richmond at home. If the Niners take Saturday’s game as lightly as the Kennesaw State game, expect a loss.

A fast start to Atlantic 10 play came to a grinding to a halt when Charlotte (9-7, 2-2 A10) dropped its second straight to Saint Louis (13-4, 2-2 A10).

The Niners jumped out to a 10-2 lead three and a half minutes into the game. Charlotte was hitting its shots and keeping the Billikens from running their offense. Everyone in Halton Arena was feeling good. Saint Louis never got within five points of Charlotte in the first half, but the Niners armor showed cracks when a 31-18 lead shrunk to 31-24 on a six point Billiken run over a two minute stretch. A Pierria Henry 3-point shot put Charlotte back up by ten, but Kyle Cassity converted a fastbreak lay-up immediately after, with the clock running out, to keep the Billikens within single digits going into the break.

Charlotte kept a safe distance for a few minutes of the 2nd-half, leading 40-31 on a Pierria Henry lay-up with 16:19 remaining. The Niners then found a way to turn the ball over on seven of the next eight possessions, the remaining possession resulting in a missed 3-point attempt by Chris Braswell. Pierria Henry accounted for four of those turnovers, which were all thoughtless passes into the hands of the Billikens. Henry finished with 8 turnovers in what we hope was just his freshman status showing itself, and only momentarily. Henry may have been battling illness as their was some question beforehand to whether or not he’d play, although he still scored 10 points and registered 10 steals.

Saint Louis capitalized on those turnovers by going on a 12-0 run to take a 43-40 lead before Deuce Briscoe tied it with a three (Briscoe then failed to convert the and-one free throw). The Niners were able to keep up for a few more minutes, holding a 47-46 lead momentarily before a Saint Louis answered. With Charlotte trailing 49-51 an 11-0 run by the Billikens ultimately put the game out of reach with a 62-49 lead with 4:15 remaining.

Then a funny thing happened, an 8-0 run by Charlotte, including five from Derrio Green, closed the gap down to 62-57 and brought some life back to Halton Arena with 1:33 remaining. Charlotte fouled on its defensive possessions the rest of the way, sending Saint Louis to the line while they proceeded to knock in six of eight free throw attempts down the stretch. DeMario Mayfield scored a 3-pointer each along with lay-ups by Barnett and Braswell to shrink the gap in the waning moments. Javarris Barnett hit an NBA-range 3-pointer with three seconds left to bring the Niners within one, 67-68. Mike McCall Jr then missed his two free throws, the second intentionally, giving the Niners a live ball with 1.8 seconds left and no timeouts. Barnett’s desperation heave was after the buzzer and fell short.

Javarris Barnett led Charlotte in scoring, putting up 23 points on 9/14 shooting (3/6 on 3PA), while pulling down seven rebounds. DeMario Mayfield had good offensive numbers, scoring 10 points of 4/5 from the field and also getting seven rebounds. This loss went through the fingertips of Pierria Henry and Chris Braswell, who combined for 13 of the teams 22 turnovers. Braswell followed up his 31 point, 10 rebound game at UMass with 10 points (4/10 FG%) and two rebounds. Charlotte managed to shoot 54.3% in the losing effort, which is a product of the turnovers.

This teams youth manifests itself in inconsistency, whether it be from game to game or possession to possession. There is improvement but there is still a lot of work to do by Alan Major and the staff to turn this program around. Charlotte sits in the heap that is the middle of the A10 at 2-2, a .500 conference record would be one anyone would have taken after walking out of the Saint Joseph’s game last season. Charlotte hosts Kennesaw State in its final non-conference game Wednesday night. The Atlantic Sun team is 2-15 against Division I this season and provide a great chance for the Niners to match their win total from last season.

We can’t win them all, but we sure as hell can’t lose them all either.

As poorly as the Niners (9-6, 2-1) shot against the UMass Minutemen (13-4, 2-1), they nearly pulled off the monumental comeback Wednesday.  In the end, the comeback ran out of gas, as so many often do when coming from way behind, as the Niners fell 85-75 in Amherst. In the loss Jr. PF/C Chris Braswell posted a career high 31 points on 9-15 shooting (3-5 from outside) and 10-11 at the foul line.

Early on it looked like the Niners were going to be run out of the Mullins Center, as UMass sprinted out to a 18-4 lead in the opening 5 minutes of the game. Raphiael Putney, who finished with a career high 19 points, helped key the early surge with help from Chaz Williams (19 points) and former Charlotte recruiting target Terrell Vinson (18 points). As hot as UMass was, the Niners were equally cold with Chris Braswell (who scored 8 of the team’s first 10 points) providing the only consistent response.

The Niners would eventually crawl back into the game as the Minutemen cooled off, and would close to within 7 points at 28-35 following a pair of three-pointers by Derrio Green and Javarris Barnett and a made FT by Chris Braswell.  UMass would rebuild the lead to 11 points at the end of the half with a painful 3 pointer by Putney which immediately followed an ugly missed 3 point attempt by Green.

The 2nd half opened up with UMass extending the lead they built late in the first half as the Niners went over 3 minutes between scores.  A Sean Carter layup would push the lead to 37-57 with 16:22 to go in the 2nd half, leaving most to think the game was out of reach. Fortunately some inspired play on both ends of the court, highlighted by Chris Braswell’s career night scoring the ball, broke the UMass stranglehold on the lead and allowed the Niners to roar back into the game. At one point Braswell hit 3 straight 3-pointers, bringing the Niners within 7 points and 10:36 to play in the game.

Charlotte would finally take the lead on a difficult layup by Braswell (replays showed he was very, very clearly fouled) with 4:47 remaining to give the Niners a tenuous 69-68 lead. Unfortunately that would be the last basket until the 1:24 mark, allowing UMass to retake the lead and push that margin out to 10 by the final whistle.

Throughout the game the Niners attacked the rim without abandon. For some (Braswell mostly, DeMario Mayfield as well) that meant success.  For the rest of the team, it meant missed layups (Niner bench had only 5 points for the game). What is most stunning is UMass shot 31 foul shots to the Niners’ 13 – Braswell accounting for 11 of those attempts.  Yes, you are reading those stats correctly. Remarkably, the Minutemen announcers noticed a number of missed calls as well.  That’s not to say the referees were biased, but it makes one wonder if the poor start subconsciously altered the manner in which fouls were called.

To paint a picture that the Niners lost because of officiating would be absolutely wrong. To the credit of the Minutemen, they controlled the glass as they collected 11 more rebounds (38-27).  However, on the opposite end of the spectrum the Niners committed only 12 turnovers to UMass’ 20 turnovers, a definite positive trend that continues to improve from earlier this season.

What needs to improve though:

• Bench scoring.  Deuce Briscoe needs to be that consistent scorer off the bench but struggles to do so.  Some nights he’s terrific, others (like tonight) he’s not-so terrific.  Tonight in particular he was bad selfish (yes, there’s such a thing as good selfish) and forced his shots in a number of spots
• Playing with composure.  At times E Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams were out of control and it lead to the ball quickly going the other way or a cheap foul.  The aggressiveness is certainly laudable but it needs to come with patience.

In hindsight, this writer sees the loss as more of what UMass did well (shooting early, foul shots late) on offense and their willingness to actively defend the fast break on defense as the reason the Niners lost.  Sure Charlotte struggled at times from the field but many of the shots were well contested and unfortunately UMass is a strong home team. There is no shame in this defeat and the comeback is something the team can build on.

We can absolutely beat Saint Louis on Saturday.  The end, good night.

It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy but it felt good. Charlotte went on the road to play a (kinda) touted St. Joseph’s team and outlasted them in a low-scoring defensive affair, taking a 57-52 win.

All those early season road games paid dividends today when Charlotte (9-5, 2-0 A10) had to comeback from a late 45-50 deficit to Saint Joseph’s (11-5, 1-1 A10) after coughing up a lead that reached 13 points in the 1st-half. When it came time to make plays to win the game, the Niners went hard and the Hawks went cold.

The early stages of the game featured four lead changes during the first seven minutes. Deuce Briscoe’s 8-0 run against the Hawks, including his 1000th career point in D-1, broke open a 13-12 game. The Niners continued to flex their collective muscle, taking a 13-point lead with 4:38 left when Pierria Henry converted a steal into a fast-break layup. St. Joe’s responded aptly with an 8-2 run to close the half and went into the break with Charlotte up 31-24 at Hagan Arena.

After the break, Charlotte built the advantage back up to ten, leading 36-26, before the Hawks’ wheels finally found traction. Carl Jones scored eight during a 12-0 Hawks’ run that put them up 38-36 with 13:16 remaining in the contest. Two Terrence Williams free throws tied it back up at 38 before Saint Joseph’s outscored Charlotte 12-7 over the next eight minutes, establishing a 50-45 lead with 4:31 remaining.

Briscoe's 8-0 run gave Charlotte a 1st-half cushion.

This is when Charlotte woke up; Javarris Barnett cut it down to a two-point margin with a 3-pointer from the wing. A jumper each from Briscoe and Henry tied the Niners with the Hawks and gave them a two-point lead, respectively. DeMario Mayfield hit both of his free throws (Myself and the five others I was watching with erupted when this happened) to cap off a 9-0 run for Charlotte. The Niners hit 3/4 free throws in the final minute, the last two by Henry after a steal with 7 seconds left, as the Hawks continued to unsuccessfully heave 3-pointers at the rim. The 49ers closed with a 12-2 run to end the game, keeping Saint Joe’s from scoring a field goal over the last 6:36 of the game.

Defense was a huge part of this victory, as Charlotte held Saint Joe’s to 2/21 from behind the arc which is noteworthy considering the Hawks were shooting nearly 40% from 3-point range going into the game. Charlotte held the Hawks to 40.4% shooting from the field and kept a team that was averaging 74 PPG in the low 50′s.

“We thought their length was going to be a problem. We really wanted to pace the game,” said Saint Joseph’s Head Coach Phil Martelli, addressing Charlotte’s defensive prowess and intensity, “We don’t want to be in 50-point games, but you’re in the league and people have tape on you. We just didn’t go at them, they were very aggressive in their switches. We knew their length was going to be an issue and we allowed it to be an issue.”

Charlotte stole the ball 13 times, lead by Henry’s four pick-pockets.

“The guys did an outstanding job of staying with the gameplan, keeping track of their two best guys,” said Head Coach Alan Major after the game. Those two guys are Langston Galloway and Carl Jones, who average 35 PPG between them and were held to 20 today.

“The guys showed a maturity. We got our defense back down the stretch.”

The Niners aggressiveness paid off as Charlotte got to the line 22 times to Saint Joe’s seven (I had to spell that out because it was so low) but both teams shot under 60% from the line. Converting free throws is still a problem for Charlotte, and if they’re going to find themselves in close games it has to be fixed before it bites them. Very interesting difference in attempted free throws since the Hawks only out-fouled Charlotte 14-13. A lot of chippy reach-ins called on the perimeter, especially in the 2nd-half.

Henry and Briscoe led scoring for Charlotte, 11 points each. Henry converted 4/7 from the field and 2/4 from the line. Briscoe shot 5/12 and missed his only free throw in a 1-and-1 situation. Chris Braswell had nine points after going a terrible 2/11 from the field and turning it over five times, but making 5/7 from the line and hauled in seven boards. DeMario Mayfield led the Niners in rebounding and assists today with nine and three, respectively. Terrence Williams was able to pull down seven rebounds in just 16 minutes of play.

Looking forward, Charlotte goes to UMass on Wednesday, the site of Derrio Green’s best game as a Niner when he converted 8/16 3-pointers during the peak (you try putting a sad face inside parenthesis, not easy) of Charlotte’s run in 2010. The Minutemen play at La Salle on Sunday and the winner will be on top of the Atlantic 10 standings with Charlotte and Dayton, 2-0 records for the trio.

Il buono, Il brutto,  Il cattivo.

The title of the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western classic was certain fitting in the Niners (7-2) 74-63 victory over Coppin State (4-6) Monday night in Halton Arena.

The Good:

For a game that was close until midway through the 2nd half, the Niners did several things extremely well.  For starters, the game-long play of Javarris Barnett and Pierria’ Henry coupled with the 2nd half burst by Deuce Briscoe propelled the Niners to victory.  For Barnett, his 26 points on 8-14 shooting (3-6 from 3PT land) represented a career high and gave the Niners the offensive lift they needed on an otherwise poor shooting night for the team.  Coppin State used an effective 2-3 zone to neutralize Chris Braswell’s interior play and forced the Niners to rely on outside shooting and transition baskets.

Javarris Barnett knifes his way to two of his 26 points -Photo by Mandeep Gill

Pierria’ Henry chipped in another double-digit scoring performance (10 points on 4-5 shooting, 2-3 from outside) along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block.  He’s a true freshman, by the way.

Despite these solid performances, the Niners held a slim 3 point lead midway through the 2nd half when Deuce Briscoe absolutely erupted.  The diminutive but crafty combo guard from Baltimore delivered 14 second half points after behind held scoreless in the first half.  Briscoe also played extremely well on defense coming up with 4 steals (and those were picks, not scooping up deflected balls by Pierria’).  The performance, according to Deuce, eased the pain of the blowout loss his hometown Baltimore Ravens suffered to the Bolts of San Diego.

The Bad:

Two things stood out as bad in tonight’s win.  For starters, the long droughts on offense.  In the second half alone the Niners went almost 8 minutes without a basket.  That’s okay when playing a Coppin State team that’s struggling to score themselves but will be a death knell against stronger teams like Saint Louis.

Another sore point was the ability of Akeem Ellis to go off for 29 points and a career high against the Niners.  Entering the game Ellis was averaging a modest 9 points per game on under 40% shooting, but utilized his inside out game to connect on 10-15 shots (3-6 from outside, 6-7 from the line).  Ellis to his credit was a difficult matchup for us as he had a nice combination of size, shooting and speed which the Niners had trouble competing with while playing man-to-man.

The Ugly:

The ugly comes from some uncertainty that popped up and another thing that’s becoming an unfortunate certainty.

That certainty is DeMario Mayfield struggling at the foul line.  The dynamic sophomore swingman can score inside and out, but not with the clock stopped and the charity stripe occupied by #11.  DeMario’s struggles at the FT line are turning him into effectively an automatic turnover when fouled as he’s fallen to below 43% on the season from the line.  DeMario is a solid shooter from outside so it stands to reason he has all the tools to be a good foul shooter.  Some better mental preparation would likely do wonders for his FTs.  With Alan Major continuing to go with him late in games, he will have to become proficient at the line because the word is certainly out on his FT struggles -teams will definitely foul him late.

The uncertainty stems from the status of first year guard Luka Voncina.  Pregame it was announced that Luka would be sitting out tonight’s game in advance of a return to Slovenia to attend to family matters.  These matters would not be expanded upon (Major says he has no idea what is going on and the release suggests Luka does not know the full extent of situation he is returning home to).  Despite this, Luka was on the bench and is expected to be on the bench Thursday for Miami’s game.  While it’s not unusual for a player to have to leave to attend family concerns, it is a bit unusual that he is sitting out while still in Charlotte.  It would easy to be a jaded fan and say he’s gone and not to return -we’ve had more than our fair share of that type of disappointment; however, the lack of information and the suggestion it’s a personal matter dictates proceeding cautiously and waiting for more information.  We wish Luka nothing but the best regardless of the final outcome.

Alan Major’s first season as Head Coach of the Charlotte 49ers was certainly an adventure.  Early injuries to KJ Sherrill and Charles Dewhurst, poor chemistry with Shamari Spears and the eventual loss of Phil Jones to grades all contributed to an abysmal 10-20 season.  However, the Niners did manage dramatic victories against Tennessee and later, Xavier.

That said, tonight’s 84-61 victory over Davidson was in our opinion Alan Major’s first signature victory.  It was a rivalry game against a solid albeit not spectacular Wildcat team in which the Niners won by playing up to their talent level and ability, not playing down to the other team’s level.  This was a game many Niner fans were fearing, Vegas and the simulators expecting the Niners to lose and a game Davidson was confident they would win.

In the early going, neither team looked interested in winning.  Charlotte was able to force Davidson into turnovers; however, poor shots and turnovers of their own saw Charlotte up only 6-2 following a DeMario Mayfield layup with the game 5 minutes old.

The remainer of the half featured brief breakouts by the Niners followed by Davidson closing the gap again.  A Nik Cochran 3-pointer late in the half would give Davidson a 31-30 lead; however the feeling was one that the Niners should be leading the game by a comfortable margin.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Niners ratcheted up the defensive intensity.  Those openings JP Kuhlman found in the first half were closing, as the Niners realized he could not create his own shot effectively.  De’Mon Brooks continued to struggle with fouls (a key strategic victory for Charlotte) and Jake Cohen was largely ineffective.  A critical juncture came roughly five minutes into the 2nd half with the Niners holding a precarious 39-34 lead.  Javarris Barnett (15 points, 6 rebounds) drilled a 3 pointer to extend the lead to 8 points.  A 3 pointer by Davidson’s Chris Czklsj;alekarusoiapfjlk (we’re Charlotte, we can’t speel) the other way was met immediately by another Javarris Barnett long-ball, keeping the lead at 8 points.  Two more JB triples and one by Luka Voncina capped a terrific display of shooting for the Niners as they withstood any semblance of a Davidson run.

From there, Chris Braswell took over, finishing regularly at the rim with a dazzling array of layups following deftly-maneuvered drives around Davidson post players.  Braswell finished the game with yet another double-double: 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Davidson appeared to cave in the latter stages, something few Niner teams have been able to induce on the opposition over the last half decade.  To really illustrate how bad the rout was, Charlotte shot 69% from the field in the 2nd half, missing just two shots inside the arc and 50% from long range.

Impressive outings were also had by the freshman trio of Pierria’ Henry (10 points on 3-6 shooting, 2 steals), E Victor Nickerson (10 points on 3-4 shooting) and Terrence Williams (5 points including some nice drives to the rim).  Though Henry was only credited with 2 steals, he wrecked havoc on the Davidson backcourt and knocked loose a lot of balls that wound up being credited to other Niners (Derrio Green had 6 steals).

One of the bonus silver linings from the game was that the Niners were able to win despite quiet scoring nights from Derrio Green and Deuce Briscoe.  That’s not to say they played poorly… they didn’t, it was merely a case where Henry, Nickerson and Williams were able to provide some more scoring than usual as well as Javarris Barnett providing the necessary outside marksmanship.  These developments are another indicator that the Freshman are beginning to improve, develop and better integrate with the rest of the lineup.  Though bumps in the road may still happen, things are certainly looking up for the Charlotte 49ers.

Yeah yeah, we know.  A day late.  We apologize for the delay and offer up cpip in exchange for your forgiveness.  Email us at greentintedglassesblog@gmail.com if you would like to take him off our hands.

Tuesday night the Charlotte 49ers defeated the Radford Highlanders 57-49 in a bloodbath that ended with three referees heading to the hospital to have their whistles extracted from their derrieres. To illustrate how bad it was, Radford managed one more field goal (18) than they did personal fouls (17).  What’s even more disturbing was all the uncalled fouls.  When then Niners opened up the game with a 12-2 run, Radford essentially put on ice any plans to play basketball and resorted to 40 (36 actually) minutes of fouls.  The truly unfortunate part was the officiating crew of Tim Cormer (who bears a frightening resemblance to Lebo Almighty), Tim Haddix and Jeff Nichols let it happen.  This may sound like complaining and rationalizing away a poor performance by the Niners but it’s really about protecting our players.  Guys were getting cut up and getting slammed to the floor regularly.  That’s when injuries occur and its the responsibility for the refs to call the game by the rules.  It wasn’t that the calls were one-sided… they weren’t, it’s just the refs were calling absolutely nothing.

Leading the way for the Niners was again Jr. PF/C Chris Braswell.  Braswell hit on 5-7 shots on his way to 14 points and 9 rebounds.  So. DeMario Mayfield also played reasonably well collecting a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  It was also a strong collective defensive effort as the Niners limited Radford to a scant 29% from the field and 5% from 3 PT land (1-19).  The most impressive aspect of performance was challenging any and all perimeter shots despite playing the bulk of the game in a 2-3 zone.  The defense rotated well and managed to close ground on open shooters en route to blocking 8 shots for the game.  The one downside, however, was the 17 offensive rebounds the Niners gave up -a frequent consequence of relying heavily on the 2-3 zone as it hampens boxing-out.

While giving credit to Radford first year head coach Mike Jones (former VCU assistant under Shaka Smart and was also on the coaching staff that recruited Mayfield to Georgia) for switching to a style of play that frustrated the Niners all night long, a sufficient amount of criticism needs to be directed to the team and staff.  Constructive, mind you.

Ball-handling against the press continues to cause too many turnovers.  It’s unreasonable to expect a flawless performance against the press; however the Niners backcourt and coaching staff needs to recognize when teams are overplaying passing lanes, telegraph passes less and utilize more movement away from the direction of the overplay, such as cutting and backdoor passes.  It’s akin to the football team that over-pursues every play.  Run a reverse and BOOM, HEADSHOT.

Another aspect of team play that continues to frustrate us is the use of DeMario Mayfield in the closing minute(s) of tight ballgames.  While we love his all-around game, his foul shooting is a tremendous liability so far, as he’s converting on just 47% of his freebies.  We don’t know if coach Alan Major is convinced he will hit his foul shots or if it’s something else, but it certainly is headscratching for us to see Mayfield in there when FTs have not been his strong point so far.

Shooting guard play continues to be an area of issue for the team, as Derrio Green and Deuce Briscoe both struggled with facets of the game Tuesday night.  Briscoe missed on all 5 of his field goal attempts and Green shot 2-5 for 6 points, with both committing a pair of turnovers.

At risk in all of this is a 3 game winning streak that is threatened by an upcoming game with hated Davidson College.  The smugness descends upon Halton Arena Saturday and the Wildcats will surely exploit turnovers in a manner that Radford was simply unable to offensively.  There is much for the Niners to work on in practice, starting with taking care of the ball.

With the taste of last year’s bitter one point defeat still in the mouth of returning Niners, players and fans alike, the Charlotte 49ers left Minges Coliseum with a 76-64 win tonight, to extend their road and overall winning streak to two games. Junior Deuce Briscoe came of the bench and told ECU, “You do not get to win, WE get to win”, while scoring 19 points off the bench, all in the second half.

The first half started off back and forth, turnovers and jawing by both teams set the tone early, and also had the referees stopping play and setting the tone with their whistles.  Some nice backdoor cuts and good looks against ECU’s man to man would give Charlotte an early advantage.  Using Braswell in the post forced Lebo Almighty’s hand to double team, leading to a DeMario Mayfield dunk where he yammed all over some poor pirate.  Someone may want to check him for scurvy.  Other deft passes led to a dunk by Chris Braswell (you read that right) giving Charlotte a 9-3 lead early.  Charlotte’s former defensive matador extraordinaire, Shamarr Bowden, learned some driving techniques while in junior college, getting a layup to slow Charlotte’s momentum and cut their lead to four.

One thing that does not need to happen for this squad is anything negative for Chris Braswell, but with 14:23 remaining in the half he would pick up his second foul and head to the bench, being replaced by K.J. Sherrill.  Some nice outside shooting by the Niners, punctuated by a DeMario Mayfield step back gave Charlotte a 17-7 lead.  However, in the absence of Braswell, ECU would pull off a 13-0 run to take a 20-17 lead, their first since 3-2 early on in the half.  Barnett and Mayfield would answer to reclaim the lead 21-20 and Charlotte would extend that to 26-22 before ECU closed the half on a small run, getting it within one to end the first half 26-25 in favor of Charlotte.

A slow start to the second half by both teams led to a number of turnovers and bad shots.  Charlotte would get their feet under themselves, pushing their lead to 31-27 on a fast break dunk by E. Victor Nickerson, that led to a resounding “E-Vic Nic” chant by the traveling Niners contingent.  Derrio Green and Pierria Henry would add a three pointer a piece to build a ten point lead for the Niners leading Lebo Almighty to call a timeout right before the under 16 minute timeout.  The Niners and Pirates would trade baskets before E-Vic got lose for another dunk attempt but was fouled, missing the dunk.  He would make one of two to give Charlotte an eight point cushion 44-36.  The next exchange would end in a double foul on Corvonn Gaines of ECU and K.J. Sherrill.  Sherrill would be called for the block, Gaines for the charge (I know it makes no sense).  The ball would go to ECU based off the possession arrow, but they would not capitalize.  Sherrill would follow that play up with a correctly called charge, much to the displeasure of the ECU crowd.

Charlotte would slowly increase their lead and build it to 56-44 after a Briscoe layup.  The Niners would get a 9-0 run to increase their lead to 63-44, behind Deuce’s offensive explosion of drives and three pointers.  Yet ECU was not done yet and that’s when the youth and inexperience began to show for Charlotte.  ECU’s offense would wake up and they would start chipping away at Charlotte’s cushion led by Shamarr Bowden’s multiple three pointers.  ECU’s full court pressure and the noise level in Minges (which was surprisingly loud) would create multiple Charlotte turnovers leading to a 17-4 Pirate run that would make it 67-61 Charlotte, but five is as close as ECU would get.  Charlotte would decide to start making their free throws putting away the Pirates to close the game on a 9-3 run and win 76-64.

 Keys to the Win:

• Defense.  While many might have been cursing at their screen while ECU made their run, ECU’s Darrius Morrow was held to zero points on 0-8 shooting with no trips to the free throw line.  Meanwhile,  Chris Braswell finished with 13 points on 4-9 shooting from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line.
• Jamar “Deuce” Briscoe.  Deuce lit up ECU for all 19 of his points in the second half while only playing 18 minutes.  Post game, Major even commented on his play, stating that Deuce is wired to score, held his composure after early foul trouble and that scoring is what he can do.
• Reserves.  E. Victor Nickerson had some nice steals, but this is mainly to give some love to K.J. Sherrill.  Sure Braswell did a fine job guarding Morrow, but in both halves he found himself in foul trouble and Sherrill answered the call for the Niners.  Post game, I asked Major, “With Braswell in foul trouble in both halves, how important was K.J. for you?”  Major answered with, “ Terrific, I’m proud of him, he battled.  He only had four points, but he scrapped on both ends.  His charge call was huge.”

The Niners coming off a pair of difficult losses scored a much needed road victory over the Wright State Raiders(2-4) 70-66 Saturday night at the Nutter Center.  Leading the way for the Niners were a pair of Jrs. in Chris Braswell (22 pts. 6 rbs.) and Deuce Briscoe (13 pts including 4-4 from the line. With the win Charlotte improves to 3-2 on the season as they enter a week off to prepare for LeboMania Dec. 3rd.

Last night’s game opened up much the same way as the Central Michigan game with the Niners scoring at will and most every Wright State shot missing the mark.  By the 7:00 minute mark in the first half, the Niners had a comfortable 21-9 lead.

“”It was really important to come out in the first four minutes of the second half and reestablish ourselves,” said 49ers Head Coach Alan Major. What was even more impressive was the Lamarian domination of the glass with Charlotte enjoying an eye-opening 19-4 advantage on the glass in the early going.

So what happened to that nice lead and rebounding advantage?  Round up the usual suspects.

It won’t take much of an interrogation (Wright State is no Keyser Söze) to figure out turnovers were again a major issue and played a role in the Raiders’ comeback.  For the game the Niners had 20 of them compared to Wright State’s 11.  What’s more surprising is that Chris Braswell, who excelled scoring the ball last night, had 7 of them.

Another large factor in Wright State’s comeback and ability to keep the game close was the play of NCSU transfer Julius Mays.  Mays poured in 25 points including 5-9 behind the arc.  Also playing well was Fr. post player Tavares Sledge.  Sledge only scored 6 points but hit all 3 of his shots and should be a nice player for the Raiders in the future.

One thing the Niners desperately need to work on is taking care of the ball in crunch time.  Two Derrio Green turnovers in consecutive possessions in a tight ballgame is not what this team needs.  Fortunately Deuce Briscoe subbed in and took care of duty hitting his aforementioned free throws.  Perhaps it’s time to settle on Henry and Briscoe as closers, with Voncina mixed in to certain offense/defense situations (translation: Free throws only).

Another point of concern is the pair of technicals received.  DeMario Mayfield and Chris Braswell both received them, Braswell’s coming at a critical juncture in the game.  Not only did he receive them late in the game, it was also his 4th personal foul.  Mayfield’s technical should have been a crystal clear indicator the officiating staff wasn’t in the mood for shenanigans.

This was a game the Niners should have won but were fortunate to do so.  Wright State is an extremely young team (save for Mays and Mpdondo, who was a non-factor) that the Niners should have dominated on the inside.  However, as the game wore on the Niners were decisively outrebounded.  Though the final tally was 34-29 in favor of the Niners, the early 19-4 advantage meant the Raiders out-rebounded Charlotte 25-15 down the stretch.   That said, it was a road game and we’ll take any road victories we can get for a team that is still trying to forge an identity on the court.