Young Charlotte 49ers fall to East Carolina
The Charlotte 49ers’ learning process – both for new coach and young players – won’t be without its lumps.
East Carolina beat Charlotte 88-74 Monday night in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. While 49ers coach Mark Price is still searching for his first win at the helm of a college program, East Carolina’s Jeff Lebo earned his 300th coaching victory.
Andrien White paced Charlotte with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and Braxton Ogbueze tallied 17, going 5-for-9 beyond the arc.
“We’re just going to keep adding pieces and grow together as a team,” Price said. “We just have a lot of growing up to do, and hopefully we’ll do it quickly.”
Michel Ngeze finished with 21 points for the Pirates, while Caleb White added 20, and Prince Williams chipped in 15.
Similar to Elon in the 49ers’ season opener, East Carolina (2-0) came out hot in the first half, shooting better than 57 percent as the Pirates took a 41-35 halftime lead.
East Carolina stretched the margin to 10 less than 30 seconds into the second half. White scored baskets on a pair of nice drives, and Ogbueze hit a pair of 3-pointers in a run to knot the score at 51 with 14 minutes, 14 seconds left in the game.
The Pirates answered with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes, aided by Charlotte putting East Carolina into the bonus with 12:08 remaining. The Pirates took advantage, sinking three of four free-throw attempts, combined with an open 3-pointer in the corner by Lance Tejada and Caleb White’s driving layup to lead 65-53 with 10:10 to go, prompting Price to call timeout.
“When that happens, we’ve got to stay locked in, stay together and keep playing.” said Charlotte’s Bernard Sullivan, who finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
With 4:26 to play, the Pirates’ Clarence Williams got a steal, drove to the other end for a layup and was intentionally fouled by the 49ers’ Jon Davis. Williams hit one of his two foul shots for a 77-63 advantage.
The Pirates hit 56 percent of their shots from the field, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range.
Sullivan, the 49ers’ senior forward, understands the learning process.
“We’re a young team,” he said. “Of course, it’s a tough loss, but we took some strides tonight. We’ve got a bunch of young guys, and a long way to go. We’ll watch some film and get ready for Thursday.”
Charlotte (0-2) returns to Halton Arena on Thursday to face Furman. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“The first year is always tough,” Lebo said “But (Price) will get it going.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Young Charlotte 49ers fall to East Carolina."