With five games left in the regular season, the Charlotte 49ers arrive at a crossroads in their season. This evening the Niners play at Richmond (13-14, 4-8 A10), who trails Charlotte (12-12, 4-7 A10) by 1/2 a game in the Atlantic 10 Standings for 10th-place. With a three-game home stand against two of the three teams directly ahead of Charlotte in the standings, a road win against the Spiders could vault the Niners into contention for a Top-Eight finish and a home game in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Charlotte and Richmond began their conference season against each other on January 4th, with Charlotte winning 75-70. Richmond found themselves in a deep hole late but took advantage of our poor free throw shooting to make it a close margin at the buzzer.

In the first game Richmond started hot and built a 32-21lead in the first half, but Charlotte got it going inside and clamped down defensively to tie it half-time. Charlotte dominated scoring in the paint 50-20 to secure the victory. Javarris Barnett scored 22 on 9-11 from the field working an inside job on Richmond. Braswell added 13.

Braswell didn’t have much resistance from Dayton on Wednesday and he has the potential to be that dominant again against Richmond. If Braswell can find it in himself to start scoring over 20 points a game his senior year will be one hell of a ride. Braswell was only 5-11 from the field in the first game and could sure use the efficiency he had on Wednesday in Dayton or like against UMass.

For Richmond, the points come from the back court as they are led in scoring by three guards; Darien Brothers scores 13.7 PPG, Kendall Anthony, a freshman, scores 13.3 PPG and Cedric Lindsay brings 11.5 PPG. Those three players combined for 51 of Richmond’s 70 points in the first meeting of the season. None of them shoot the ball better then 42% from the field but all shoot better then 35% from behind the arc, led by Anthony’s 43.2%. Anthony and Deuce Briscoe match-up like a dream, it’s only a matter of which one (or both) gets hot.

Richmond’s fourth leading scorer is forward Derrick Williams, at 11.1 points a game. If Williams gets 11 today he will be averaging 5.5 PPG against Charlotte as the Niners held him scoreless in the first meeting.

DeMario Mayfield is expected to return to the line-up following his run-in with the Five-Oh on Tuesday, for our sake let’s hope he turns around the life off the court and keeps getting better on the court. He scored 13.4 PPG in his last five games and 9.4 RPG with three double-doubles along the way. If he returns in that form the Niners have to be feeling good, he was held scoreless in the first game.

A fifth win should put Charlotte completely out of the danger zone of finishing worse than 12th as Fordham (2-9) nor Rhode Island (2-10) have a shot at more than one victory (when they play each other), let alone three. If Charlotte can get the interior game working for them on offense and defense they will find themselves in a position to win this game. If Charlotte can also generate some scoring from the perimeter, the Niners shot 1/6 from three-point range in the first game, they will more than likely walk away with their third road win of the Atlantic 10 season.

Predictions:

J Felt: Spurred on by the GTG crew’s attendance, the Niners get another road win. Charlotte 73, Richmond 67.
2k: Niners do not disappoint for my birthday present. Charlotte 67, Richmond 63.
McFly: Charlotte stays undefeated when I am present. Charlotte 72, Richmond 69
Geep: Niners lose 77-67 because C-Pip is attending Hooner’s plate party at The Flying Saucer and can’t make it to the game.
NLP: Niners give Alpha Duster a birthday present, win 69-63.
C-Pip: Charlotte avenges all those sweeps by Richmond with a 75-65 win.

Listen, reader. We haven’t had content since the LaSalle game. Get over it. You should be thankful that one of us bothered to write a preview for that game. Seriously, who cares about LaSalle? As NLP often points out, fans have no excuse for forgetting there’s a game. But there has to be an exception for LaSalle. In this paragraph, LaSalle has been mentioned more times than it has by basketball fans for the past six years.

But why did you forget previews for the other games after that? You didn’t even post something for Homecoming against Rhode Island!

You’re right. That’s inexcuseable. But we did decide to enjoy tailgating with the Normbulance on Saturday morning rather than sit in front of a computer screen.

Now that we’re riding a two game winning streak, however, GreenTintedGlasses.net is interested. We promise to bring back the the coverage you have missed so dearly. Of course we’re still lazy, so this presents us with a problem. Lucky for the us, The Blackburn Review exists. To take away the burden of doing actual research and coming up with our own jokes, we reached out to Tom Blackburn to get some insight on our game on the road against the Dayton Flyers. You can find their equally lazy preview here.

GreenTintedGlasses.net: First off, how’ve you been? It’s a new season with a new coach. Are you glad Mooney didn’t take the Georgia Tech job, opening the door for Gregory to skip town? Have you noticed any major changes with the new regime?

Blackburn: Chris Mooney holds a deserved place in the heart of every Flyer fan. In an alternate universe, Mooney is coaching the Yellow Jackets and Brian Gregory is in Dayton, in the middle of a 9-15 season, coming off a ten point loss at Fordham.

Instead, BG is pacing the Georgia Tech sideline, turning that program back to the stone age. The silver lining of this season, beside the pleasant beginning to the Flyer’s A10 schedule, has been the fact that Gregory can’t hurt us anymore. UD and BG were in an circular abusive relationship and Archie Miller came in and swept us off our collective feet. He looks like he’s 16 but he fucks like a 40 year-old trucker on dust and always has a wad of cash in his pocket. The best part is that Archie fits into all of Gregory’s old suits, win-win.

GTG: You’ve lost four of your last five (and let’s face it, using overtime to beat Fordham is practically a loss as well) since beating Xavier. Is this the classic Dayton Flyers Tailspin, or is there a logical explanation?

B: It’s just a case of a team playing above its heads for a short period of time before reality set in. Dayton came into this season with a lack of depth, yet managed to string together a fairly decent OOC record. The Flyers won the Old Spice Classic and, outside of a pink-socking against Buffalo, took care of business.

Then Josh Benson, in the midst of a solid season, went down with a season-ending ACL injury during UD’s win against Ole Miss to close out 2011. At that point, it looked like the season was all but over. Instead, the Flyers rolled off victories against Saint Louis, Temple and Xavier — good enough for first place in the league at the time. Then, like the ceiling of an Ethiopian church, it collapsed quickly and almost without warning.  And here we stand, 5-5 in the conference with nary a glimmer of hope.

GTG: Overall Dayton seems to be scoring by committee; there are currently six players averaging between eight and thirteen points. What is Archie’s offensive strategy and, be honest, do you enjoy watching it?

B: Archie likes to play at a much different pace than his predecessor. Kevin Dillard has the abilitiy to penetrate and find open looks. No one has parlayed Dillard’s play into success as much as Boof Kavanaugh.Although Dayton still bombs away from the three-point line with audacity, there are enough wrinkles to keep everyone involved on the offensive end. That’s in stark contrast to last season.

Defensively, the Flyers struggle to keep anyone from scoring. That’s not fun. However, the positive indicators far outweigh the negative. I get a rod just thinking about next season’s team.

GTG: Who should Charlotte fans watch out for tomorrow (other than the Redheaded Cheerleader)?

B: The other redheaded cheerleader? Seriously, UD doubled-down on redheaded cheerleaders. Two gingers this season. Outside of Kevin Dillard, this has been the highlight of the season. I really, really, wish I was kidding.

GTG: Prediction?

B: I think UD wins a tight one, something like 74-70. Dayton’s indifference to defense means convincing wins are hard to come by. Charlotte is good enough to hang with the Flyers, but I have a feeling Chris Johnson is about to get back on track as the season draws to an end. CJ scores 22, grabs 11 boards to lead UD to victory.

GTG: Finally, as a token of our appreciation, we present to you GingerDuster. How does she stack up to your own red celebrity?

B: She’s seem a lot more edgy and possibly dirtier than our redhead celeb. This pains me to say, more than you’ll ever know, but I think the Niners have the ginger edge. I never thought I’d say that. Cherish her, Charlotte. Cherish her.

The GingerDuster photo was blatantly grabbed from the Observer’s kind of creepy (how did they get past Judy with all those pictures of cheerleaders and dusters?) slideshow linked here. Photo taken by Todd Sumlin.

That was definitely easier, and arguably more entertaining, than the usual GTG preview. Predictions from the crew are below. Add yours in the comments.

J Felt: Charlotte 76, Dayton 69. This is bizarro world, Niners win in Dayton to avenge losing in Halton last year
Geep: Dayton takes flight over Charlotte. Flyers 75, Niners 71
McFly: They want our ginger (not Cpip, the other one), they can’t have her, but they’ll win. Dayton 74, Charlotte 64
NLP: Much like the Spruce Goose, the Flyers never really take flight. Niners 75 – Flyers 70
2k: Dayton Flyers, nah, Dayton Failers. Niners keep it going with a 72-67 W on the road.  Archie Miller for COY.

Tonight, the Charlotte Forty-Niners (10-10 overall, 2-5 A-10) try to get on the right track by traveling to Philadelphia for a game versus the La Salle Explorers (16-6 overall, 5-2 A-10).  Some Niner fans may remember the Explorers from two years ago, when the now departed An’Juan Wilderness hit a crazy runner to win the game.  Then some of the fans may remember La Salle from when Shamari Spears attempted to go all “Incredible Hulk” against their coaching staff, players, and fans (good thing there were only 37 in attendance) during the same game.  Then the Niner fans who are historical buffs will likely be confused by the fact that the university is named for a Catholic Saint dedicated to education, where as their nickname comes from a French explorer who never did anything for the city of Philadelphia.  However, that French explorer, during an expedition had a small fort built called Fort Prudhomme (waits for the readers to Google, I’ll wait).  Niner fans should loathe this French fort as it is now known as present day Memphis, Tennessee.  With such little rivalry in the Atlantic Ten for Charlotte fans this is what we are left to in order to extrapolate hate towards a program we have no qualms with.  Therefore, La Salle created the Memphis Tigers.

Back to basketball…

The Explorers have been an enigma the past few seasons.  When they are picked to fair well, they seem to hit just low of expectations, and when picked to not be much of a contender, they fair much better.  This season the Explorers were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic Ten, and of course in atypical La Salle fashion, they are tied for first in the conference.  How do they do it?  They shoot lights out.  Six players have shot three pointers for La Salle, with the worst one of the bunch shooting 33% from the three-point line.  To put that in to the context of Norm (one “M”), that would make La Salle’s Earl Pettis the fourth best shooter on Charlotte, and considering two of those players (Pierria’ Henry and Chris Braswell) have combined for 61 attempts, that would make Pettis the second greatest threat for Charlotte.  Four explorers shoot higher then 40%, with Ramon Galloway stroking an absurd 48% of his deep balls, all while averaging a team high 15.5 PPG.  So if you have not caught on, La Salle is going to spread out the perimeter and look for open shots.  In turn, good shooters open up multiple driving lanes, which could lead to easy buckets for the Explorers.

As for Charlotte, they will need a stellar defensive plan, and it would not hurt to get Pierria’ Henry back into the fold for this game.  The perimeter players will need to hound La Salle’s shooters off the three-point line, force them into contested jumpers, or into help situations to create turnovers.  If the Niners just expect to chase La Salle’s shooters around screens it is going to be a long night.

Offensively, Charlotte needs more balance (I know, we specialize in rocket science here at GTG).  La Salle is not known for their big men this season, so Chris Braswell should touch the ball on the block nearly every time down the court.  If and when help comes, other players need to step up and hit jump shots.  Javarris Barnett is not going off for 20+ points every night, so others need to help create balance so defenses cannot key in on these two.

Keys To The Game:

• Pressure La Salle’s shooters.  Percentages do not lie, and these guys will make you pay for leaving them open.  A tight man-to-man is likely the best medicine defensively against this team, because a zone would be like Dr. Kevorkian, or Dr. Conrad Murray, whichever pop-culture reference works for you.
• Rebound the ball.  If the Niners can pressure their shooters, there will be rebounds to get, and La Salle is not an overly good rebounding team (Charlotte 36.4 RPG, La Salle 34.0 RPG).  Charlotte needs to win this battle.
• Take the ball to the hole strong and convert lay-ups.  La Salle does not have an intimidating post presence like St. Joseph’s.  Chris Braswell will have the highest blocks per game average on the court tonight and he might have a 7” vertical.

Predictions:

McFly:  Niners continue their slide, despite a competitive performance.  La Salle 73, Charlotte 68.

J-Felt: JB breaks the thirty point barrier and the Explorers get lost. Niners 73, LaSalle 67.

C-Pip: Charlotte explores how it feels to win, Niners 66-La Salle 64

The Geep:  We’ll probably lose.

2k: Niners falter in a close game on the road. Explorers 74, Niners 69

NLP: Niners sneak the Easy Button on the plane and win comfortably. Charlotte 83 – La Salle 52

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.

Three straight conferences losses have deflated the momentum created by the Niners’ hot start to conference play. Looking to reverse that backwards momentum, Charlotte (10-8, 2-3) welcomes Temple (13-5, 2-2) to Halton Arena tonight for the 12th all-time meeting between the schools (Temple leads 6-5).

The Niners are looking to regain some of their fire

Temple, as most are #aware, is a quality program. They score a lot of points, shoot really well from the field and have a winning record on the road (5-3), coming into this game having won two straight (both at home) against La Salle and the rebuilding Maryland Terrapins (LOL). Last season, when things seemed their bleakest Temple was only able to beat Charlotte by nine in Philadelphia. However, Temple converts on greater than 46% of their shots from the field, so it will take a defensive intensity unseen before and an offensive fire to keep Charlotte in this game.

Temple has an offense oriented towards the perimeter being lead in scoring by two guards, Ramon Moore (17.2 PPG) and Khalif Wyatt (16.6 PPG). Moore is shooting 41.1% from the field, while Wyatt is converting 47.7% of his shots which is astounding from the guard position. Should the 49ers overbear on these two players, the third leading scorer, Juan Fernandez (11.6 PPG), will probably be wide open with a hunger to make a basket. Moore, Wyatt, and Fernandez all shoot above 35% from behind the arc, with Wyatt and Fernandez shooting over 40% from three-point range. Making matters worse is the overall size of Temple’s backcourt, which is amongst the largest the Niners will face this season. Working in Charlotte’s favor, especially if Pierria Henry gets his usual share of minutes, is that Temple’s three guards account for 7.3 turnovers a game. Henry will need help from Deuce Brisco, Derrio Green, and Terrence Williams to help force these turnovers. More importantly the fastbreaks can’t end with missed lay-ups, fastbreaks only seem to work when DeMario Mayfield has the ball because he finishes strong every time he can.

Inside, the Owls have had to turn to the 6’10″ Anthony Lee and 6’6″ Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson while Michael Eric has been injured for most of the season. Eric (6’10″) might be seeing his first extended action (logged 7 minutes versus Maryland and looked rusty) since his injury tomorrow and Charlotte’s Chris Braswell needs to be ready to pounce if there is vulnerability in Eric’s game. The team only gets four blocks a game so if Braswell, or even Sherrill, can get their post game working for them their shots that start so low have a good chance of getting up and over the basket. Anthony and Hollis-Jefferson have only accounted for 15PPG to this point of the season, Temple doesn’t run an inside-out offense which will help our frontcourt stay out of foul trouble.

Charlotte has to play almost, if not entirely, like a good basketball team to beat Temple. Braswell needs to make his buckets and pass out of double-teams without throwing the ball out of bounds or to an Owl. The Niners have to, as stated earlier, stay composed on fastbreaks and focus on getting the ball through the hoop. When a wing penetrates the lane they need to play through the foul, unless the foul shooting improves the Niners would be better off coming out empty handed on an and-one situation than bricking two from the charity stripe.

This season’s team is nerve-racking and they do not make it easy on [The] Niner Nation. If they can put together 40 Minutes of well-composed basketball they may find themselves with a win over Temple.

Predictions:

J_Felt: I believe that we will win, I believe that we will win, I believe… oh Henry is still hurt?…that we will lose, I believe that we will lose. Charlotte 67, Temple 79.
C-Pip: The Niners are back! Charlotte squeeks one out over the Owls, 75-73
McFly:  I’d bet against us in this one even if Henry was 100%, if he’s not I’d bet the house.  Charlotte 52, Temple 68.
2k: Niners look to remain undefeated at Halton vs Temple.  If PH can play, Niners win 71-68.  If no PH, Temple 76-64.
Geep:  Niners bow down in front of Temple. Owls 82, Charlotte 77.
NLP:  F*** you guys. Niners 74 Temple 68

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.

With a two-game losing streak, the Charlotte 49ers (9-7, 2-2) look to get back to winning with a Wednesday evening tilt against the Kennesaw State Owls (3-15, 0-7). Normally we refuse to include victories against non-DI teams; however, when your level of futility is approaching Wisselian proportions… well we just feel bad.

KSU is one of those surprisingly large universities (enrollment of > 24,000 students) you haven’t heard a lot about.  Kennesaw State is located just outside Atlanta up I-75 and is named after former MLB Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who not-so-coincidentally also served as the inspiration behind the Owls’ mascot.

Kennesaw State, led by first year head coach and double first-namer Lewis Preston, enters the game losers of 6 straight and 13 of their last 14. Most recently the Owls fell to Mercer on the road 81-51

Banisher of Black Sox and inspiration for KSU Owls logo. Eat your heart out, Jerry West.

in a game which saw the Bears shoot a wh0pping 62% in Macon. Despite KSU’s woes this season, given the Niners own predilection for turnovers and a mere 4 point loss to East Tennessee State University, the Owls are certainly worth our attention and best effort.

The Owls are led by Jr. F Markeith Cummings. Cummings is good for a team-leading 15.8 ppg and a solid 5.4 rpg and has the ability to extend out to the three-point line where he connects on 35.3% of his attempts from long range. Consistent with his scoring output, Cummings was tapped as the ASUN preseason POY; however despite the lofty expectations things haven’t been so peachy for the Kennesaw State forward. Cummings served a one-game suspension in November for conduct detrimental to the team. It was probably just a case of HC Lewis Preston lowering expectations in his first season by providing a scapegoat for the teams’ struggles – straight out of the Alan Major/Judy Rose playbook. Joining Cummings in the post (we swear that isn’t dirty) is another Jr. F in Aaron Anderson.  The alliterative post is the team’s leading rebounding at just over 8 rpg. and coincidently also scores around 8 ppg. (someone likes symmetry).

In the backcourt Kennesaw State pairs two perimeter threats in Sr. G Spencer Dixon and Fr. G Delbert Love. Dixon averages 13.5 ppg. and Love is good for 10.8 ppg. Neither shoot a superior percentage overall; however, their 35 and 32% success from beyond the 3 point arc would seem stellar compared to the Niner normal. Splitting time at the wing forward position are Brandon Dawson and Romain “Lettuce” Henry. Neither are particularly productive on the court and unfortunately for the Owls, there is little to turn to after these 6 on the Kennesaw State bench though Mirza Sabic, a JUCO transfer, went for 10 points in the loss to Mercer.

Keys to victory:

• Don’t let the rest of the Owls beat us: Markeith Cummings is an explosive forward, much like Dominique Sutton from NC Central.  He’ll get his points but the Niners need to keep the rest of the squad in check, particularly the Owl backcourt
• Limit turnovers: This should come as a shock to no one. With a stretch of 75 turnovers in 76 possessions, it’s obvious the Niners tend to get a little ahead of themselves, particularly on the fast break. Pierria’ Henry in particular needs to fight the urge to press when the team is struggling and instead slow things down a little to calm the team and execute on offense.
• Bench production: The Niners have struggled mightily to get any semblance of regular bench scoring. Deuce Briscoe needs to step up and provide that lift from the bench while E Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams, for all their ability to get to the rim, need to finish plays.

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.

Normally we open with some sort of snark about eviscerating our opposition; however, the GTG staff apparently has a case of the #badfans and some are predicting defeat.  As usual, McFly and 2k are being Negative Nancys. Pish tosh, says NLP, the Niners are going to empty the Saint Louis chances for victory like liposuction would empty Rick Majerus of his abundant accumulation of adipocytes. Really, Majerus should consider a career as a luxury liner. With yet another cruise ship tragedy, one would think that someone as buoyant as the Boy Beluga would be in high demand as an unsinkable vessel. It would certainly be better than hearing his annual grips about wanting to move SLU to the MVC so that his abundant waistband doesn’t have to log so many miles.

Predictions:

NLP (the best):  Charlotte put the Saint Louis offensive attack on a crash course weight loss plan. Niners 72 – Bilikens 63

J Felt:  Niners win, Majerus leaves with 4 minutes to get good seat at Olive Garden. Charlotte 70, SLU 65

McFly:  Billikens return to their early season form, Niners still search for some semblance of consistency. SLU 73, Charlotte 60

Gill: Biliken doesn’t bring luck to SLU. Charlotte 77-71

Cpip: Braswell stays in beast mode, leading Niners to victory. Charlotte 62 – Saint Louis 58

2k: Not ice under Halton, but will feel like it… SLU 63 Charlotte 57

Saturday, the Saint Louis Billikens (13-4, 1-2 A-10) come to Halton to renew their tepid rivalry with your Charlotte 49ers (9-6, 2-1 A-10). Of course, that means it is the time of year where we ask ourselves, “What exactly is a Billiken?”  Most would comment that it is a troll, or a small person, and even Google isn’t sure.  When I typed in “Billiken” the all powerful search engine asked me if I meant to search “Black Men”.  Obviously, this wasn’t satisfactory for the GTG.net archivists so they tirelessly worked to not only find us answers, but earn their high level pay, and they were able to provide us with an answer. They found that a Billiken was a charm doll created by Florence Pretz, an art teacher, from St. Louis, Missouri (our crack team of researchers have told us that there may be a coincidence to her place of residence and creation, and the university’s location and use of said mascot, but it cannot be confirmed).  Apparently, the elf-like figure came to Ms. Pretz in a dream, down to the pointy ears, little patch of hair on its head, slightly mangled, stout body, and that shit-eating grin you’re so used to seeing.

Speaking of visions coming to people in dreams, many Saint Louis fans had similar dreams when Rick Majerus was hired to take over the program, but while it hasn’t quite been a nightmare, it’s been much more like pergatory then a dream scenario.  Two seasons ago, Majerus directed the Billikens to a CBI Championship game appearance (GTG.net does not acknowledge the existence or the importance of pay-to-play post season tournaments), where they lost to VCU in a best of three championship series.  However, the good showing at the end of the season raised expectations for the following season, but Saint Louis would battle injuries, suspensions, and overall poor play to finish 12-19 (6-10 A-10).  Heading into this season, the Billikens returned a few players from injury as well as not loosing many to graduation, and were pegged as somewhat of a darkhorse, being picked third by all of us here at GTG.net in the Atlantic Ten preseason poll (As well as being rated highly by numerous, less prestigious polls).  This season the Billikens started off strong beating Big Six conference foes such as Washington, Boston College, Villanova, and Oklahoma, and racing out to a 12-1 start.  Recently, Saint Louis has gone 1-3 in their last four, with losses versus Dayton, Temple, and New Mexico (sandwiching a win versus George Washington in there).  Depending on your outlook, it could be a good thing they are in a slump, or a bad thing as they may be motivated to get out of it.

Offensively, Saint Louis is a fairly balanced team, shooting 47% from the field and 39% from the three point line (both a higher percentage then Charlotte, 40% FG, 31.3% 3FG), and are led by senior forward Brian Conklin (6’6″, 230 lbs) at 14.5 PPG.  Conklin is strictly an inside the arc player, and he is very good at it, shooting 60% from the field (only one three point attempt all year, but he made it).  He is also the anti-DeMario Mayfield, and should not be fouled as he converts on 86% of his attempts.  Conklin is flanked by Kwamain Mitchell and Cody Ellis, who both average just north of 11 PPG, but do it in different ways.  Mitchell, the junior point guard, is more adept at driving to the basket, but also shoots 36% from the three point line.  Ellis, the junior forward, is more of a face up four-man (he’s Australian, what do you expect?) and converts on nearly 41% of his three point attempts. So, all in all, Saint Louis, as always, is highly efficient on the offensive end, and now they actually score above 56 PPG (They average 70.1 PPG as a team).

Defensively, the Billikens are just like the Billikens of old.  They hold their opponents to a 55.8 PPG average, which is fairly remarkable considering Charlotte only holds their opponents to a 67 PPG average, but holds the opponents to a lesser shooting percentage both from inside and outside the arc.  Saint Louis is not exactly a strong rebounding team, only averaging 32 RPG, but when you are as efficient as they are, there shouldn’t be too many balls to chase down at the end of possessions.  The Billikens also turn their opponents over at a solid rate of 15 turnovers per game, which is plus-five to their own turnover rate.

This game will largely come down to who can keep their composure the most.  Both teams thrive in that regard in different ways, Saint Louis with their efficiency, and Charlotte in with their lack of consistency (largely on the offensive end).  Either way, it should make for a good game, with an old rival in Halton Arena.

Keys to the Game:

• Pressure the ball and contest every shot.  Saint Louis operates at a highly efficient rate, and barely turn the ball (10 turnover per game).  This will need to change to get them out of their rhythm.
• Limit second chance opportunities.  Saint Louis is not an overly strong rebounding team, so multiple opportunities need to be limited for a team that operates at a high percentage.
• Avoid the droughts.  The Forty-Niners have struggled to start games and halves strong.  They finish fairly well, and handle the inbetween, but have been cold in many games coming out of the gates.  Saint Louis, with their defense, is not a team you can battle back against when you’re down double digits.