Charlotte 49ers beat ODU, take over 1st place in Conference USA

It’s January and the Charlotte 49ers are in sole possession of first place in Conference USA.

It doesn’t matter what month it is, that’s a rare spot for the 49ers, who beat Old Dominion 53-47 Saturday at Halton Arena to take over the top spot in the league with a 3-0 record. It’s the first time Charlotte has started unbeaten through three league games since 2012-13, and that was when the 49ers were in the Atlantic 10.

But, yes, it is just January, as 49ers coach Ron Sanchez is quick to remind.

“Our focus is on the next step,” said Sanchez, whose team improved to 9-5 overall, already exceeding last season’s win total of eight. “If you look too far ahead, then you’ve stumbled, because you’ve missed the step directly in front of you. We’re putting on blinders because we need to focus on the things that allowed us to be competitive. We’ll faithfully do that every time we step onto the practice floor or the game.

“We can’t start thinking about things that are genuinely irrelevant at this point of the season. If we do, that would be a mistake.”

The 49ers got past the Monarchs (6-10, 2-1) with another strong defensive performance. The 49ers also won after almost letting a sizeable second-half lead melt away, as they did last week against Middle Tennessee (a 68-62 49ers victory).

The 49ers held the Monarchs to a 1-for-22 3-point shooting performance and scored 22 points off 15 ODU turnovers (nine in the first half).

Much of what Sanchez’s “pack” defense that he brought with him from Virginia tries to do is force opponents to take contested 3-pointers when there’s nothing else seemingly available.

“I want them to take contested shots,” Sanchez said. “Our intent definitely is to genuinely to contest every single shot, whether it’s a 2- or 3-pointer. We want to eliminate penetration. When you eliminate penetration and contest shots, that’s the result.”

The 49ers held ODU’s top two scorers — A.J. Oliver and Xavier Green — to zero and one points, respectively.

After the Monarchs jumped to an early 4-0 lead, the 49ers responded with a 13-1 run. ODU had five turnovers during that stretch, and ended the half with nine (leading to 15 49ers turnovers).

Senior guard Drew Edwards (12 points four rebounds) was responsible for another 49ers surge midway through the first half, scoring eight consecutive points as the 49ers stretched a 15-13 lead to 25-13. Edwards made two 3-pointers and hit a pair of free throws during the run.

The 49ers took a 30-20 lead into halftime when freshman guard Jahmir Young went the length of the court and hit a layup as the buzzer sounder.

The Monarchs rallied to open the second half, cutting Charlotte’s lead to 34-32 with 14 minutes, 19 seconds left on a layup by Aaron Carver. But Charlotte, which nearly frittered away a 22-point lead in the second half against Middle Tennessee, again steadied itself. The 49ers responded with a 9-2 run, going up 43-34 on a drive by Edwards. The Monarchs never recovered.

And one

ODU scored 20 points in the first half, the fifth consecutive game Charlotte has held its opponent to fewer than 25 points in the opening half.

Lane violation

As well as the 49ers defended, they struggled offensively for long stretches. Charlotte shot 37.8 percent from the field (ODU was 40.4 percent).

ICYMI

49ers point guard Jordan Shepherd, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, returned against ODU. Shepherd, the 49ers’ leading scorer, had six points and three assists.

Making sense of the numbers

Plus 12: Drew Edwards’ plus-minus number, best on either team. Three other 49ers -- guards Cooper Robb and Luka Vasic and forward Milos Supca -- were plus-9.

6: Rebounds by Robb, leading the 49ers.

38: Points in the paint by ODU (Charlotte had 16).

This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 6:31 PM.