Charlotte's Marcus Bennett dunks the ball on a fast break against Temple. (AP Photo/Chris Keane) |
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Charlotte Surges Past Temple, 66-59
Feb. 8, 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Charlotte's De'Angelo Alexander had played his worst half of basketball in a long time, so at halftime 49ers coach Bobby Lutz left no doubt what he wanted.
"I started screaming at him to shoot it every time he touched it," Lutz said.
Alexander and Leemire Goldwire sparked a second half comeback as Charlotte overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to beat Temple 66-59 Wednesday.
 De'Angelo Alexander (15) shoots around Temple's Mark Tyndale (13), Antywane Robinson (24) and another defender during the first half. (AP Photo/Chris Keane) |
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Alexander scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, while Goldwire had 13 of his 19 points after the break.
With Temple collapsing a zone defense around star forward Curtis Withers, the 49ers routinely moved the ball around the perimeter for open shots.
Charlotte (14-8, 7-3) opened the second half with a 12-0 run as Alexander and Goldwire each hit on a pair of 3-pointers to quickly erase Temple's 38-27 lead.
Later in the game, Alexander and Goldwire hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the court as the 49ers opened their biggest lead at 60-52 with under four minutes to play.
"Lee and I had a long talk today, and if anything he has been overworking himself," Lutz said. "He just needed to relax out there. Both of these guys just needed to shoot it. We felt like we could get some open shots against their zone."
Withers had just 6 points for Charlotte, but was a contributor on the glass with 14 rebounds. He also made all four free throw attempts after missing 11 of 15 on Saturday against Dayton.
"They were giving us a lot of open looks in the second half and I was just concentrating on getting my feet set and working on my release," Alexander said. "We had to convert because we had a lot of good looks in the first half and we didn't convert."
Charlotte attempted 22 3-pointers in the first half but converted just seven.
The game also was a tale of two halves for Temple (12-9, 5-5). The Owls came out on fire, hitting 10 of 14 3-pointers in the first half. They went cold in the second half, converting just 1 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Antywane Robinson hit on 4 of 5 3-point attempts in the first half, but made only 1 of 6 attempts in the second half.
The Owls led by as many as 15 in the first half and it might have been more had Charlotte not gotten a spark off the bench from Marcus Bennett, who scored eight quick points on a pair of 8-pointers and a dunk.
Lutz said he knew Temple eventually had to cool off.
"We knew we weren't going to shut them down completely, but we at least wanted to make it more difficult for them with our zone," Lutz said.
Mardy Collins led Temple (12-9, 5-5) with 18 points and Antywane Robinson had 17.
Withers, the Atlantic-10's top player last week, didn't score until six minutes into the second half.
"We know that we're not a one-man or a two-man team," Lutz said. "To win and not have Curt score much, that's a good sign for our team."
The win left Charlotte in second place in the Atlantic-10 Conference, a half-game ahead of idle St. Louis.
NOTES (Supplied by Charlotte 49ers Sports Information):
For the second straight game, Charlotte used an explosive second half to rally to an important Atlantic 10 win. The 49ers overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to knock off Temple, 66-59. Last Saturday, Charlotte rallied from a seven-point halftime hole to defeat Dayton, 62-49.
The 49ers used a 12-0 run to open the second half and erase Temple's lead and then took over the game with a flurry of three-pointers and a powerful performance on the boards. With the game tied at 52-52 with less than 5:00 minutes to play, Charlotte scored the next eight points on a pair of Curtis Withers' free throws and three-pointers from De'Angelo Alexander and Leemire Goldwire. Temple closed to within five, 62-57, with 48 seconds left, but after Alexander missed the front end of a one-one, Withers knocked the ball free from Temple's Wayne Marshall. Senior Chris Nance grabbed it and converted the dunk to put the lead comfortably back to seven, 64-57, with 46 seconds left. Two Goldwire free throws with 16 seconds left iced the victory.
The win was the 100th all-time in the 10-year history of Halton Arena.
Charlotte outscored Temple by 18, 39-21, in the second half, holding the red-hot Owls to just 29% shooting in the final frame. Temple had taken its halftime lead by shooting 54% from the floor and an incredible 71% (10-of-14) from three-point range.
The second half however was a different story as Temple hit just 1-of-14 threes (7.1%), while Charlotte knocked down 8-of-14 long rangers (57%). In addition, Charlotte took control of the boards, grabbing 25 second half rebounds to Temple's 14.
Goldwire led the 49ers with his 4th 20-point game of the year, scoring 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range. He added seven rebounds and four assists without a turnover.
Junior De'Angelo Alexander had 19 points, hitting 6-of-12 threes and senior guard Marcus Bennett came off the bench to match his career-high with 13 points, nailing three threes.
Senior Curtis Withers scored just six points, but again was a force on the boards with 14 rebounds, 10 of which came in the second half.
Withers, who ranks 4th in the NCAA with an 11.3 rebounding average, passed former Conference USA Player of the Year DeMarco Johnson for third-place all-time in rebounding for Charlotte with 929 career boards.
The 15 three-pointers made by Charlotte is a season-high.
Charlotte plays at Wake Forest in non-conference action, Saturday. That game will be televised by ABC Sports at 3:30 p.m.
Charlotte outscored Temple by 18 in the second half. In their come-from-behind win over Dayton, Saturday, they outscored the Flyers by 20 in the second half.
Charlotte is now 7-8 when tied or trailing at the half.
Oddly enough, Temple matched 49ers opponents' highs (10, 1st half) and lows (1, 2nd half) for three-pointers made in a half.
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