CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte made five of its first six 3-point attempts to fuel a hot start and held off a comeback bid in the second half to post a 62-53 win over UTSA men's basketball, on Saturday afternoon at Halton Arena.
UTSA (7-11, 0-5 Conference USA) couldn't overcome a hot start from Charlotte (9-5, 2-0 C-USA), who made five of its first six 3-point attempts to open the game, building a 19-point lead midway through the first half that UTSA cut to 34-22 at intermission.
The Roadrunners came out of the second half strong, cutting the lead to five with the first seven points of the period and later narrowing the lead back to five with 10 minutes left. The 49ers responded with 11 straight points to regain a double-digit advantage with seven minutes left and hold on for the win.
UTSA shot 29.4 percent and was held to 2 of 16 from 3-point range. The 49ers finished shooting 34.7 percent and was 8 of 25 from distance.
UTSA owned a 48-36 advantage in total rebounds and a 17-5 mark in offensive rebounds.
All 10 UTSA players who saw action scored, with freshman guard Christian Tucker leading the team with 10 points, adding two rebounds and two assists.
UTSA freshman guard Lamin Sabally, a native of Berlin, Germany, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and added six points. Darius McNeill chipped in six points and five rebounds and Lachlan Bofinger had nine rebounds and six points. Erik Czumbel, a game after his career-high 16 point game at Old Dominion, had six points and three boards. Jacob Germany had four points and five rebounds.
Charlotte All-Conference USA guard Jahmir Young, who entered the game averaging 19.8 points per game to rank second in the league, had 15, including 10 in the first half. Syracuse transfer Robert Braswell IV added 14 points and four rebounds. Ohio State transfer Musa Jallow finished with seven points. Clemson transfer Clyde Trapp Jr. had five rebounds and two points.
UTSA will return to action on Thursday, traveling to face UTEP at 8 p.m. CT, live on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM.
The 49ers opened the game with the first five points before McNeill finished on a take to the rim. Charlotte sank 3-pointers on consecutive trips to gain an 11-2 lead.
Christian Tucker nailed an elbow jumper out of the first media timeout and Aleu Aleu drilled a wing 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11-7. Phoenix Ford cut the lead to 16-9 but a fifth triple – in six attempts – for the 49ers to take a 22-9 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the first.
Lamin Sabally snapped a 9-0 and 14-2 run with a transition finish, cutting the lead to 25-11. McNeill got to the rim to narrow the lead to 27-13 with seven minutes left in the first. Young answered with an and-1 to take the lead to 30-13. Young finished a back cut to gain a 19-point lead with six minutes left.
Josh Farmer hit one at the line out of a UTSA timeout and finished a runner on the next possession to make it 32-16. Erik Czumbel hit a pair at the charity stripe and Sabally finished an out-of-bounds play to make it 34-20. Ford made a post-move bucket for a 12-point game at the half. UTSA shot 27 percent in the first half and Charlotte shot 34 percent, making six 3-pointers.
Tucker completed an and-1 out of the half to get the lead to single digits, McNeill finished in transition and Germany got on the board to narrow the lead to five as UTSA scored the first seven of the final period.
Charlotte's Braswell snapped UTSA's run to take the lead to seven. Sabally hit one at the line and after a made triple from the 49ers, Bofinger's spin-move in the post cut the lead to 39-32.
Czumbel sank two at the line to cut the lead to 40-34 with 13:47 left in regulation. Young hit two at the line and Germany answered with a midrange jumper from the corner to cut the lead to five with 10 minutes left.
Jallow sank a corner 3-pointer and Young hit two at the line to regain a 10-point lead. A Charlotte run continued to 11-0 as UTSA missed eight straight shots to build a 53-37 lead seven minutes left.
Tucker finished an and-1 to snap the 11-0 run but Jallow was fouled on the other end to regain a 15-point lead, allowing the 49ers to extend and hold on for the win.
- UTSA -
