Senior Charlie Coley, III pulled 11 rebounds vs. Clemson. |
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Niners Drop Another Heartbreaker, 71-70, to Clemson
Nov. 22, 2008
Halton Arena - "I've never been prouder of a team in a loss," said Charlotte 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz, "and I hate losing. We kept fighting. We kept coming back. Sometimes you can play well and lose. You can't be content with that but I think we showed some things that if we continue to do well we'll come out on the other end."
The 49ers dropped their third straight heartbreaker, falling to visiting Clemson, 71-70, at Halton Arena before a sellout crowd of 9,105. The 49ers (1-3), have lost their last three games by a combined five points, with one going to overtime.
Tonight, junior shooter Ian Andersen nailed his career-high seventh three-pointer of the game to knot the score at 67, with 1:03 to play. Clemson's KC Rivers hit a driving layup with 43 seconds left and after the 49ers missed a three-pointer, Demontez Stitt hit a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to push the Tigers' lead to four, 71-67.
Senior Lamont Mack hit a three from the corner with seven seconds left to cut the margin to one and after the 49ers forced a turnover on the inbounds play, Charlotte got the ball back with 5.6 seconds left with a chance to win.
Mack's driving layup was blocked out of bounds by Trevor Booker and DiJuan Harris' three-point attempt off the inbounds play was off the mark, leaving the 49ers on the losing end of yet another heartwrencher.
Charlotte, which came into the game shooting 84% from the foul line, shot just .368 (7-of-19) against Clemson (5-0). The 49ers were 3-of-11 (.273) from the line in the second half.
"It was an exciting game," Lutz added. "This is the best team we've played so far and I think this is the best we've played. The foul line was the difference. Seven-of-19 from the foul line in a game that's this close -- that's a huge difference."
Statistically, the 49ers shot better from the field and from three-point range, outrebounded Clemson and forced more turnovers. But the Tigers escaped with their fifth straight victory and a modicum of revenge for the 49ers 10-point victory over the 18th-ranked Tigers in Clemson, last year.
Charlotte's Andersen led all scorers with a career-high 21 points. He hit 7-of-11 three-pointers and his seven threes are tied for second-most in Halton Arena history, two shy of the Arena record of 9, set by Leemire Goldwire, last season in a win over Davidson.
Mack scored in double figures for the fourth straight game with 14 points and Phil Jones added 10 points. Senior Charlie Coley scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Stitt led the Tigers with 16 points while Rivers added 12.
Charlotte heads to ESPN's 76 Classic in Anaheim, Ca., Nov. 27-30. The 49ers face #15 Arizona State in the first round, Thursday at 9:00 p.m. (ESPNU).
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