Charlotte 49ers fall at Rice as pair of Owls notch 23 points each
Marcus Evans and Egor Koulechov had 23 points each and Rice held a double-digit lead through the final seven minutes on Saturday night to beat Charlotte 84-67.
The Owls (14-8, 4-5 Conference USA) never trailed after an early 14-0 run for a 19-8 lead. The 49ers (10-10, 4-5) kept the lead from expanding until Koulechov's 3-point play with 6:30 left made it 68-54.
Connor Cashaw added a season-high 17 points for Rice, which made 8 of 18 from 3-point range and 31 of 56 from the field.
Jon Davis had 21 points to lead Charlotte. Braxton Ogbueze added 15 points and reached the 1,000-point mark for his career. Najee Garvin, Austin Ajukwa and Anthony Vanhook had 10 points apiece.
Charlotte had a 10-5 run to cut the deficit to 50-45 with 15:59 left. Rice outscored the 49ers 18-9 over the next 9½ minutes.
WOMEN
Rice 55, Charlotte 42: The 49ers (15-5, 7-2 C-USA) started slowly and were never able to complete a comeback Saturday at Halton Arena.
Despite the setback, Charlotte remains in a three-way tie for first in the Conference USA standings and holds the league’s best overall record.
Redshirt forward Junior Nyilah Jamison-Myers led the 49ers with 16 points.
The loss is the first for Charlotte inside Halton Arena this season after an 8-0 start.
Staff report
This story was originally published January 28, 2017 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers fall at Rice as pair of Owls notch 23 points each."