Charlotte 49ers hit early 3s to set stage for romp against N.C. A&T

Charlotte didn’t have a lot of trouble with N.C. A&T on Wednesday, the 49ers winning 92-72 in a game they controlled from the opening tip.

The 49ers raced to an 11-2 lead before the game was three minutes old and were ahead 38-14 by the time Anthony Vanhook sank a basket with five minutes left in the first half.

It was a good night and a good showing for the 49ers, a trend the team is looking to continue.

“We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season, that’s our goal,” Charlotte coach Mark Price said. “We still feel we can be a factor in our conference.”

The 49ers (8-14) started like gangbusters, scoring seven 3-point baskets before the game was 13 minutes old.

Braxton Ogbueze accounted for three of those scores and Ridell Camidge and Curran Scott each had a pair.

Charlotte led 45-27 at half and only a couple of 3-point baskets by N.C. A&T’s Bruce Beckford kept the score from being more lopsided.

The 49ers shot 56 percent from the field for the game and were 7-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half. Joseph Uchebo led Charlotte with 21 points despite resting through the game’s latter stages.

The win was the 49ers’ fourth in their past five outings, their only setback an 82-77 setback Saturday at Florida Atlantic. Before that, Charlotte had won three in a row.

“We wanted to get another streak going,” said Charlotte’s Jon Davis, one of four 49ers to score in double figures Wednesday. “We were disappointed by that loss Saturday. We felt we were the better team.”

The Aggies (6-18) did make a run at the 49ers, opening the second half on a 10-3 streak to cut Charlotte’s lead to 48-37.

But it was a short-lived comeback, the 49ers going ahead 85-50 before Price substituted liberally during the final stages.

“We knew they were going to come back at us,” Price said of N.C. A&T’s play in the second half’s early stages. “Hopefully, we can continue to grow.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers hit early 3s to set stage for romp against N.C. A&T."