CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Charlotte rallied past Saint Louis 68-62 tonight in a Conference USA men's basketball game at Halton Arena. The 49ers overcame a 13-point first half deficit behind forward Curtis Withers' 14 points and 14 rebounds.
"I'm really disappointed in this loss, because I believe it's a game that we could've gotten," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "We made mistakes in the second half with too many turnovers and gave up some critical offensive rebounds. Throw in the free throw disparity, and that makes it awfully difficult to beat a quality team like Charlotte on the road."
In the first half, the Billikens came out executing their motion offense to near perfection and built a 22-9 lead. Junior guard Reggie Bryant led the way with 12 first half points. But when center Tom Frericks and forward Izik Ohanon left the game with foul trouble, the Bills' offense bogged down. The Bills did not score for the final 3:46 of the half, but still managed a 35-32 lead at the break.
Saint Louis' offensive troubles continued in the early stages of the second half as the Bills did not score for the first 3:28. Charlotte guard Brendan Plavich drilled a trey giving the 49ers their first lead 83-35 at the 18:12 mark. The Billikens regained some semblance of control, and Bryant knocked down a jumper capping an 8-1 run to build a 45-41 edge with 12:16 remaining.
Charlotte answered with a 9-0 run of its own. Freshman guard Mitchell Baldwin drained a triple to give the 49ers the lead for good at 46-45 at the 10:20 mark. Meanwhile, the Billikens would get only five free throws in nearly eight minutes and committed four turnovers during that stretch.
The Billikens beat Charlotte's pressure for Anthony Drejaj's lay-up, and SLU trailed 60-58 with 2:06 remaining. The 49ers' Baldwin got a lay-up at the 1:10 mark out of a scramble after the Bills thought they had caused a 49er travel right in front of the Charlotte bench. Bryant, who finished 0-7 from 3-point range but still led all scorers with 22 points, missed a threeball out of the left corner on SLU's next possession, and Charlotte shot 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
Charlotte (12-5, 4-2) rebounded from a home loss to UAB last Saturday and shot 42.2 percent from the field, 21.4 percent from three and 77.1 percent (27-35) from the free throw line. Forward Eddie Basden led the 49ers with 18 points, and Baldwin chipped in with 11. The 49ers out-rebounded the Bills 33-25 to overcome their 17 turnovers.
"Chris Sloan gave a great effort against Withers, but that's a size mismatch for Chris," Soderberg said. "We're not the first team that has given up a double-double to Withers. Basden also gave us trouble with his baseline drives, and we never found a good match-up for him."
The Billikens shot 46.3 percent from the field, only 17.6 percent from the arc and 75 percent (9-12) from the free throw line. Twelve of the Bills' 16 turnovers came after halftime.
Saint Louis (11-6, 4-2) continues its three-game road trip at UAB on Sat., Jan. 31, for a 7:30 p.m. (CT) start.
