The Charlotte 49ers' 73-52 victory against Radford on Saturday in Halton Arena was as much about who wasn't there as who was.

Here's who wasn't there (again): Forward Shamari Spears, who, for a third time in his two seasons with Charlotte, missed a game due to suspension. This suspension - for violating undisclosed team rules - is indefinite, according to first-year coach Alan Major.

"We'll continue to move forward and evaluate this day to day," said Major after the 49ers (3-4) easily beat the Big South's Highlanders (2-3). "The indefinite suspension is what it means. It's day to day. It's like downing a football; we'll leave it right there."

The rest of the 49ers did just fine without Spears. Playing in front of a crowd of 5,977 limited by Thanksgiving break, Charlotte got big games from forward Chris Braswell (18 points on 7-of-8 shooting) and center Phil Jones (16 points on 7-of-7 shooting).

"With Shamari out, we're missing (17) points a game," said Jones. "So we had to step up."

Charlotte led 33-21 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 14-7 run that put the game out of reach. The Highlanders went on a 9-0 run late in the game to cut the lead to 62-52, but Charlotte pulled back away.

It's not the first time trouble has found Spears, a 6-foot-6 senior forward from Salisbury who transferred to Charlotte last season from Boston College. After being suspended by former 49ers coach Bobby Lutz for the first game of the 2009-10 season, he went on to have a successful individual year, making third-team all-Atlantic 10.

But Spears was then again suspended by Major in this season's first game - a loss to Gardner-Webb - before Saturday's latest disciplinary action.

There have been signs from Spears that have indicated he and Major might not be getting along. After Charlotte lost on Wednesday to Oregon State - a game in which Spears played just two minutes in the second half despite not being in foul trouble - he said on his Twitter account that he had never considered quitting, but was "on the . . . edge."

In the preseason, Spears indicated in a tweet that he missed Lutz, who was fired after last season.

With Spears out of the lineup against Radford, the 49ers were still able to play an efficient offensive game. They went inside consistently to Braswell, who scored on an assortment of shots. Jones made the most of his four offensive rebounds.

"They were too much for us to handle inside," said Radford coach Brad Greenberg.

Major wouldn't say when Spears would be back. Charlotte plays again Wednesday at East Carolina.

"I'm not really disappointed (in Spears)," said Jones. "He's my guy at the end of the day and I'm standing in his corner. But we just need to get this resolved and get him back on the court."