First-half letdown dooms Charlotte 49ers against FAU 77-75
Charlotte 49ers’ men’s basketball coach Mark Price warned his team Thursday that it would take a full 40 minutes of intensity to pull out a win against Conference USA foe Florida Atlantic.
The 49ers seemed to take their coach’s message to heart early in Thursday’s contest at Halton Arena, pushing their first-half lead to as many as 17 points. But Charlotte fell apart after that and ultimately fell 77-75.
The 49ers (10-11, 4-6 C-USA) jumped out to a 28-11 lead midway through the first half, going 7-for-7 on 3-pointers and holding the Owls (7-13, 3-6 C-USA) to 4-for-14 from the field. Then Charlotte’s offense went cold.
After starting 10-for-13 from the field, the 49ers made just four of their final 17 shots before halftime, which they entered clinging to a 43-39 lead.
Florida Atlantic seized its first lead with about 12 minutes remaining pushed it to seven points shortly after. Although the 49ers pulled within one in the waning minutes, their first-half letdown ultimately doomed them.
Three who mattered
Jailyn Ingram, Florida Atlantic: He finished with a team-best 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting and added seven rebounds.
Justin Massey, Florida Atlantic: After scoring just one point in the first half, he paced the Owls with 10 in the second
Jon Davis, Charlotte: He scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and finished with a season-high nine assists.
Observations
▪ Florida Atlantic held a significant edge on bench points, outscoring Charlotte 35-14 for the game and 22-3 in the second half.
▪ The 49ers entered Thursday ranked first in C-USA and 24th nationally with a 76.3 free-throw percentage. Charlotte shot 61.1 percent (11-for-18) on free throws against Florida Atlantic.
Worth mentioning
▪ With about six minutes left, senior forward Anthony Vanhook went to the locker room with an apparent left-arm injury before returning with about a minute left. He ultimately attempted a pair of free throws with about four seconds left that would’ve tied the game, but the injury appeared to still be bothering him, as he missed both.
They said it
“We need to just work on winning every game from here on out, honestly. We’ve just got to play hard and with intensity on both sides of the floor so we can get these wins to finish the conference.” – Redshirt junior Austin Ajukwa on not letting the loss linger.
This story was originally published February 2, 2017 at 9:46 PM with the headline "First-half letdown dooms Charlotte 49ers against FAU 77-75."