The Charlotte 49ers were having trouble putting away pesky Kennesaw State.

The 49ers' final nonconference game of the season against the struggling Owls was supposed to be a tune-up for the remainder of Atlantic 10 Conference play.

Instead, the Owls more than held their own behind some sizzling 3-point shooting before finally falling 74-63 to Charlotte on Wednesday night at Halton Arena.

“We apologize for scaring you,” 49ers coach Alan Major told the fans in attendance after the game.

He wasn't kidding.

The Owls (3-16) led much of the game and still held a 54-53 advantage with 10 minutes, 13 seconds to play.

That's when the 49ers erupted on a 10-3 run, fueled in part by eight straight points from DeMario Mayfield, to take a 63-57 lead with 3:08 to play.

“We were able to string together three or four good stops right there,” Mayfield said. “Basically, our defensive intensity picked up.”

Charlotte looked ready to put the game away, going up 70-59 with 1:48 left and the Owls began to send the 49ers to the free throw line. The 49ers failed to take advantage, missing six of their final 12 free throws.

Still, the 49ers (10-7) did enough to earn their 10th win of the season, matching their win total from last season.

“Two things stand out – 18 assists (on 21 field goals) and 10 turnovers. And I was very happy with our defensive intensity in the second half, holding them to a low shooting percentage (32.3 percent),” Major said.

“It's good to reach (the 10-win milestone) now with still a lot of games left. With this stretch coming up of A-10 play our goal is to continue to improve as a team.”

Mayfield, a sophomore transfer from Georgia, finished the game with a career-high 25 points, including a 3-for-6 performance from the 3-point line. He also had three rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks.

“It was good to see DeMario, who has been struggling in his shooting, knock in a few (3-pointers). His free throw improvement (4-of-6) was also encouraging,” Major said.

Delbert Love led the Owls with 26 points, including a 6-of-12 performance from the 3-point line.

Chris Braswell and Javarris Barnett both scored 13 points for the 49ers.

Braswell faced double-teaming most of the night from Kennesaw State.

“Braz has been our guy so far this season, he's been drawing a lot of fouls around the basket,” Mayfield said. “We went to Braz early in the game and when (Kennesaw State) started doubling-down on him, he kicked it out to open guys.”