Charlotte 49ers snap losing streak with win over Appalachian State Mountaineers

A little time off – and a lot of practice – appears to have worked wonders for Charlotte’s men’s basketball team.

The 49ers, who struggled through the opening six weeks of the season, responded from a 10-day break by beating Appalachian State 82-66 on Saturday, giving Charlotte coach Mark Price his first road win.

Braxton Ogbueze scored a season-high 25 points and three other players finished in double figures for the 49ers (2-8), who snapped a six-game losing streak.

Anthony Vanhook and Benas Griciunas came off the bench to add 14 points each and Ridell Camidge had 10 for Charlotte, which only trailed once in handing the Mountaineers (2-8) their fifth straight loss.

“We had a week to practice, and we had some really hard practices, to say the least,” Price said. “We tried to change the tone, change the effort we’d come out with.

“It was a very positive step for us. They’ve been working, and we’ve had a brutal schedule up to this point. It was good to see us come out and get a ‘W.’”

Appalachian State was leading 25-21 with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half when the 49ers broke things open behind Ogbueze and Vanhook.

Charlotte went on a 15-0 run over the next five minutes, with Vanhook scoring seven points and Ogbueze nailing a pair of 3-pointers, the last giving the 49ers a 36-25 lead with 3:59 remaining.

Down 40-33 at the half, the Mountaineers made a run in the opening minutes of the second half, pulling within 45-43 on Jacob Lawson’s dunk with 17:45 left.

But Charlotte answered with 3-pointers by Camidge and Griciunas to kick off a 20-5 run over the next eight and a half minutes to push the 49ers’ lead back into double digits.

Three who mattered

Braxton Ogbueze: Was nearly perfect in the first half, making his first seven shots (including all six of his 3-point attempts) in scoring 20 points. Finished making eight of 12 from the field, and a career-best seven of seven on 3-pointers.

Anthony Vanhook: In addition to his scoring, gave Charlotte a rebounding spark with a season-best eight boards.

Frank Eaves: Mountaineers’ all-Sun Belt guard finished with 24 points on six of 12 shooting, including four 3-pointers, and eight of eight from the free throw line.

Observations

▪ Charlotte went with a starting lineup of Ogbueze, Camidge and Jon Davis in a three-guard set, with Bernard Sullivan and Reid Aube at forwards – the seventh different starting five Price has used in the 49ers’ first 10 games.

▪ Charlotte shot a season-best 50.8 percent from the field (30 of 59) and 61.1 percent on 3-pointers (11 of 18) – this from a 49ers team that averaged 37.1 percent from the field and 29.7 percent on 3-pointers over their first nine games.

▪ Charlotte also outrebounded the Mountaineers 43-25, just the third time this season the 49ers done so. They also had a 13-8 advantage on the offensive glass.

Worth mentioning

▪ With students beginning their holiday break last week, and Appalachian State’s football team playing Ohio in the Camellia Bowl later in the day, the crowd for Saturday’s 49ers-Mountaineers game was decidedly sparse – 376, according to the announced attendance figures.

▪ Area connections – Jim Fox, now in his second year as Appalachian State’s coach, was an assistant and associate head coach at Davidson for 13 years; 49ers assistant Houston Fancher spent nine years as the Mountaineers’ head coach.

▪ The 49ers host Georgetown in a nationally-televised game Tuesday night at Time Warner Cable Arena. Game time is 7 p.m., with the broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

They said it

▪ “We’ve been going hard, just to know how to play hard. Every day, we’ve been pushing ourselves, pushing ourselves, pushing ourselves. That prepared us to come out and be ready to play with energy and effort.” – Ogbueze.

▪ “I told him before the game, ‘I want you to be aggressive; I want you to get us going offensively,’ and he did.” – Price on Ogbueze.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers snap losing streak with win over Appalachian State Mountaineers."