Charlotte 49ers rush past Maryland-Eastern Shore

Combine a superb Charlotte defensive effort with a frigid shooting night by an opponent, and you get the 66-44 drubbing that the 49ers handed Maryland-Eastern Shore on Thursday night at Halton Arena.

The 49ers (6-4) held the visiting Hawks to 28 percent from the floor and led by margins of more than 30 points at times in the second half.

It was the third straight win for Charlotte and the fourth in five games.

Jordan Shepherd led the 49ers with 20 points, coming off his 27-point performance Monday night in Charlotte’s victory over Valparaiso.

Maryland-Eastern Shore (1-12), of the MEAC, never led.

The Hawks hung with Charlotte for the first four minutes and were tied 5-5 with 16:01 left in the first half. The 49ers then went on a 13-3 run for an 18-8 lead and continued to pull away.

Two free throws by senior guard Drew Edwards extended Charlotte’s lead to 15 points (25-10) with 4:21 left in the half.

But the 49ers weren’t finished. With their suffocating defense shutting down the Maryland Eastern Shore attack, the 49ers continued to build their margin. The lead reached 20 points (30-10) on the first of two successful free throws by Shepherd with 23 seconds remaining.

The Hawks finally snapped an eight-minute scoreless streak on Ty Gibson’s 3-point field goal with 16 seconds left.

Shepherd single-handedly matched the visitors in first-half scoring, with 13 points.

The second half was more of the same. With 13 minutes left, Maryland-Eastern Shore was 6 of 37 from the floor for the game. The Hawks improved that percentage late in the game, largely against Charlotte’s reserves.

The 49ers held the Hawks scoreless for several lengthy stretches and built their lead to 30 points (54-24) on a Milos Supica free throw with 6:41 to play.

AND ONE

Charlotte freshman point guard Jahmir Young had a solid performance, with 10 points, three rebounds and three steals. He committed only two turnovers.

PERSONAL FOUL

About the only negative statistic for Charlotte on Thursday night was bench scoring. The Hawks’ reserves outscored the 49ers by a 23-19 margin.

ICYMI

<bullet>The 49ers and Hawks met once previously, but it’s been a while. Charlotte crushed the Hawks 114-59 on Jan. 10, 1976. The 49ers finished 24-6 that season, losing 71-67 to Kentucky in the NIT finals.

<bullet>Thursday’s game was the last at home this calendar year for Charlotte. But the 49ers’ first three 2020 games are at home, starting with a Jan. 2 Conference USA opener against UAB.

<bullet>Charlotte plays for the final time in 2019 Sunday, visiting East Carolina.

MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS

23.5: Jordan Shepherd’s scoring average in the last two games. Shepherd is a 6-4 junior guard who sat out last season after transferring from Oklahoma.

17.9: Maryland-Eastern Shore’s field goal percentage in the first half. The Hawks made 5 of 28 from the floor.

10: 49ers players who scored.

6: Number of victories so far this season for the 49ers. That equals the victory total from two years ago and is just two short of last year. The last time Charlotte had such a good start to the season was in 2016-17, when it started 6-2. The 49ers went 7-15 from there, however, and finished 13-17.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle