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 have been here before, actually a few weeks ago.  It is time once again to face our in-state brethren.  No, not the mother ship, or even N.C. State, just one of the few in-state schools who will actually play us, East Carolina.  Since we last saw the Pirates, they have gone 3-0 with wins against USC-Upstate (for 7th place in Charleston), Lenoir-Rhyne (a Division II school), and UNC Greensboro (81-53).  So presumably, momentum is in their favor.  Also, Minges Coliseum has not been the kindest place to Niner fans in the past (my memory draws a blank when I try to think of January 29th, 2005…  Moussa who?).  Factor in the thought that Charlotte will once again be playing without Shamari Spears (suspension), Charles Dewhurst (injured), and K.J. Sherrill (injured), and this could be a potential trap for the Niners.  With Spears, the Niners dispatched ECU a few weeks ago by a count of 74-63 in a neutral setting, and now must do the same in hostile territory without the power forward, or his biting words from the “Twitterverse”.

Greenville's #1 Fan... (Space) Pirates... not so much

There will be a familiarity between these two and one is sure the Pirates’ will be out for revenge, have plenty of game tape to go off of, and home-court advantage (and hot distracting Co-Eds) to pull off the victory.  Despite all this, it is not going to happen.  At the end of the day, this is basketball, and we’re talking about ECU.  We cannot lose to them, largely because of family members who attended the university and the abundant text messages that will be received if they win, but also because Greenville is where basketball goes to die (along with just about every other organic body).

Predictions:

McFly: Niners 76, Pirates 70.  That isn’t scurvy, just two losses to the Niners for the Pirates in two weeks

C-Pip: Charlotte 65 East Carolina 60.  Their big man is an absolute scrub and slow, Braswell and Phil will do what needs to be done.

The Legendary HP49er: Cannons fired over ECU’s bow as the Niners take #2 from the Pirates,80-69.

NLP: Niners hit the jackpot in G-vegas, leave with a 73-67 win over the Pirates.

J Felt: Charlotte 71, ECU 59. Braswell continues this new “play with intensity” thing and dominates again, Phil Jones records 7 blocks.

2k: Charlotte 71, ECU 66. StillJonesing? Nope, StillLosing to Charlotte.

49ers

Charlotte travels to Greenville tomorrow for a trio of two’s, the 2nd true road game, the 2nd game versus the East Carolina Pirates, and the 2nd game into Senior Forward Shamari Spears’ indefinite suspension.  With the suspension of Spears and the return of East Carolina’s Senior Guard Brock Young to the starting line-up, this game is not expected to resemble the game in Charleston in many ways except, hopefully, for the Niners walking off the court victors.

In Charlotte’s 74-63 win, all 5 starters for Charlotte scored in double figures, with Phil Jones adding 8 more off the bench.  G-F Jamar Abrams had the duty of guarding Spears, who scored 15 points on 5-11shooting, while big man Darrius Morrow had the challenge of guarding Chris Braswell and Phil Jones with help from Chad Wynn and Darius Morales.  The Pirates 3 big men won the scoring battle 24-19, but lost the rebounding edge to our duo 18-15.  Reserves Wynn and Morales only saw 15 minutes of action and committed 2 fouls apiece and as a team, ECU recorded only 1 block , which came from Guard Corvonn Gaines.  With the way Braswell and Jones dominated inside against Radford(14-15 FG, 34 pts), expect the same strategy from the 49ers tomorrow night. The 49ers have a size and talent advantage inside, and could look to get Morrow, who had 4 fouls in 29 minutes the first game, int0 early foul trouble.  Another strategy Charlotte has available would be having Braswell and Jones on the floor together, which would exploit the severely undersized G-F Abrams, and  could also produce many trips to the free throw line.

Pirates

Nothing should be different in the match-up of guards this time, Deuce and Derrio efficiently combined for 26 points on 21 shots. Both starting guards could have some pressure relieved by the improvement of Gokhan Sirin, who saw 1 minute of playing time in the first game, but exploded for 14 points, shooting 4/7 3-pointers, in Saturdays win against Radford.  His defense and confidence was much improved in that game, although that could be a product of the opponent rather than Gokhan, so we can’t hold our breath for a similar performance in Greenville.  Javarris Barnett is good for 1 or 2 jumpers a game, and 5 or 6 quality rebounds, but shouldn’t have a lot of pressure on him while he is starting in place of Shamari.  An’Juan should be expected to be An’Juan again, scoring by driving to the hoop and off offensive rebounds along with his defensive skill set on the other end of the court.  It is an unknown if Charles Dewhurst will be available, but his presence would only help rest our overworked back court more efficiently than Colby Lewis could,  even though Colby has impressed(for a walk-on) by not “blowing it” on defense, Dewhurst would be a great improvement in the rotation.

Coach Lebo does have game tape of the 49ers and homecourt advantage on his side, but the tape he has is that with Shamari on the court, so its use to him could be limited, but still expect a close game at East Carolina.  Charlotte still has better talent, its up to the players to win it for The Niner Nation

49er Blackouts are known to cause this in opponents.

It feels like it’s been a month, but it’s finally gameday again! Even better, it’s a home game in Halton Arena! The Niners are set to take on the Pirates of East Carolina University, a school known as EZU and recognized more for its baseball and STDs than it’s basketball program. Any other time we take on ECU, it’s a “big deal” type of game, because traditionally, ECU sucks, bad. But there’s still a bad taste in our mouths from January ’05, when some guy named Mouse gave us our third loss and sent Niners fans home dejected and in an ice storm. Everything about the day sucked. Greenville sucked, Curtis Withers sucked, our team sucked, their crowd sucked, and losing sucked. The only way to help us forget that day is for the Niners to destroy ECU, just as they should’ve years ago.

Spears should dominate these guys, and it won’t be pretty. For many Niners, he’s the first consistent low-post scorer we’ve ever been able to see in person, and it’s a wonderful sight to see. But what if he gets in foul trouble? This is a question that needs to be solved as soon as possible if we’re going to be any good this year. We can’t expect Spears to dominate the other team’s big men from the bench, though it’s definitely a possibility versus ECU. Put on your Green Tinted Glasses people, FIVE AND ONE is basically here, it’s ECU, it’s Halton Arena, it’s Shamari Spears, and it’s ECU. Hell, even dogs on youtube hate the Pirates…

Predictions are below, add your own in the comments, and the winner will receive one free memory wipe of that ECU game and all of March ’05 as well.

J Felt – Charlotte 84, ECU 63. Niners run away in the second half as ECU can’t hang with Spears, Phil Jones has a block party while wearing an eye patch just for kicks.

HP – Pirates wash away in the rain storm as 49ers roll, 86-68.

D-Fo – The Pirates will leave Halton with a true peg-legged limp after Dijuan and Derrio finish breaking their ankles all night.  Spears goes for 25, Bowden gets hot again and goes off for 5 or 6 three-pointers.  At the end of the night, the Pirates walk the plank back to Greenville to the tune of an 89-75 loss.

Bust – Charlotte 84, EZU 71. Niners take the week off of gold mining as the pirates bring the treasure to them.  Pirates walk the plank (with one pirate scoring his personal best)

NLP – Charlotte 73 EZU 68. Shiver me timbers.  All hope abandon, ye who enters Halton Arena!

letsgoNINERS11 – EZU steps into the black hole that will be Halton Arena and Shamari feasts for 30.  Sharpshooter Shamarr Bowden is gonna go Navy Seals on the Pirates from long distance for 18 and Chris Braswell chips in 15-10.  81 – 65 Niners FTW.

JRitchie – Ian Andersen single handedly defeats that Pirates after they black out… Niners win 93-68