Rice ends losing streak, surges by misfiring Charlotte 49ers

Ako Adams scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Rice ended a seven-game losing streak, beating Charlotte 73-64 on Saturday.

Charlotte missed 7-of-9 shots from the field in the final 6 1/2 minutes and the Owls ended the game with a 16-8 run. Malik Osborne made all four of his free throws and Connor Shaw made two in the last 50 seconds.

Osborne scored 18 points and shot 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Rice led 40-37 at halftime and Adams made a pair of 3-pointers to extend the lead to 46-39. Jon Davis ended a 10-2 run with a 3-pointer and two free throws with 13 minutes, 14 seconds left and Charlotte led 49-48.

Osborne later broke a 54-all tie with a free throw followed by a layup and Rice (4-13, 1-3 Conference USA) led the rest of the way.

Andrien White had 18 points for Charlotte (5-9, 1-2) and Najee Garven scored 10.

Big South

Campbell 88, Winthrop 77: At Buies Creek, Chris Clemons scored 33 points and the Camels (7-8, 1-2) beat the visiting Eagles (7-7, 1-2) in the teams’ first meeting since last season’s Big South title game, when Winthrop won 76-59. The Camels ended a four-game losing streak to the Eagles.

Xavier Cooks scored 24 points with 12 rebounds to lead Winthrop with his 25th career double-double.

Longwood 79, Gardner-Webb 73: The Lancers (4-12, 1-2 Big South) used a late 16-5 run to surge in front for good, and the Bulldogs lost (7-9, 2-1) on the road, ending their four-game win streak. Gardner-Webb’s Liam O’Reilly scored a game-high 22 points.

South Atlantic

Queens 93, Mars Hill 64: Todd Withers led the No. 2 Royals (15-0, 7-0 South Atlantic) with 18 points and seven rebounds, both team highs. Ike Agusi added 12 points and seven assists. Daniel Carr added 12 points from the bench. Freshman Austin Gilyard led the Lions (2-12, 0-7 SAC) off the bench with 23 points.

Sun Belt

Appalachian State 79, La.-Monroe 73: Ronshad Shabazz scored a game-high 22 points and a season-high tying six assists as the visiting Mountaineers (8-9, 3-1) beat the Warhawks (7-8, 1-3).

Trailing 71-66, App State scored nine consecutive points, capped by a 3-pointer from O'Showen Williams to open a 75-71 lead with 1:26 to play.

Observer News Services contributed.

This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Rice ends losing streak, surges by misfiring Charlotte 49ers."