Leemire Goldwire nailed three threes in the final 3:05 to rally Charlotte past Rhode Island. |
|
|
GAME NOTES: #6 Seed Charlotte vs. #3 Seed UMass
March 13, 2008
Atlantic City, N.J. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
A-10 Tournament
#6 Charlotte 49ers (19-12; 9-7)
vs. #3 UMass (21-9; 10-6)
Thursdayday, Mar. 13, 2008; 9:00 p.m.
Boardwalk Hall; Atlantic City, N.J.
Radio: WFNA, 1660 AM
TV: CBS College Sports
The Coaches:
Bobby Lutz, Charlotte
Career: 368-215 (19th year)
at Charlotte: 187-124 (10th year)
(49ers all-time winningest coach)
Travis Ford, UMass
Career: 186-144 (11th year)
at UMass: 58-33 (3rd year)
Series Record: Charlotte trails, 2-3
(H: 0-1; A: 1-1; N: 1-1)
This year: UMass won 86-79 at Amherst
Notes: Charlotte is 1-2 vs. UMass in its three years of Atlantic 10 play. Charlotte picked up its first-ever A-10 Tournament win, Wednesday, 75-73, over Rhode Island. It was the 49ers first conference tournament win since 2003-04.
The 49ers last reached the semifinals of a conference tournament in in 2001-02 (Conference USA).
THE GAME: The sixth-seeded Charlotte 49ers (19-12; 9-7) rallied past #11 seed Rhode Island, 75-73, and will meet #3 seed UMass, Thursday at 9:00 p.m. in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals (Radio: WFNA, 1660 AM - Matt Swierad; TV: CBS College Sports, TWC). Senior Leemire Goldwire hit 3-of-3 three-pointers in the final 3:05 as Charlotte came back from a six-point deficit to claim the win over Rhode Island. Sophomore Michael Gerrity hit two free throws with 0:00.3 left to win it. UMass defeated Charlotte, 86-79, in Amherst in the regular-season.
OF LATE: Charlotte has won four in a row, their longest winning streak of the last two years and are a perfect 4-0 in March. In the previous three years, Charlotte was a combined 3-9 in March. The two-point win over Rhode Island improves Charlotte's record to 6-6 in games decided by four points or less. 22 of Charlotte's 31 games have been decided by seven points or less (Charlotte is 12-10 in those games). Charlotte also improved to 8-8 in games in which it has trailed at the half. Last year, Charlotte was 1-11 when trailing at the half. The 49ers trailed at the half of each of their last two wins.
PURE GOLD!: Senior Leemire Goldwire scored 23 points, including 3-of-3 three-pointers in the final 3:05, as Charlotte rallied past Rhode Island. Here's a capsule of some of clutch, game-winning performances this year:
(margin of victory in parentheses)
W vs. URI (2) 23 pts; 3-3 3FG in final 3:05 to rally from six-point deficit
W v. #18 Clem (10) 1st car. dbl-dbl (21 pts; 10 rebs)
W vs. St. Joe's (4) 36 pts; final go-ahead 3 @1:14
W vs. Temple (2) 21 points; scored 49ers' final 11 pts
W vs. URI (10) 34 pts; Outscored Rams 9-6 in final 4:30
W vs. Davidson (7) 34 points; 4-4 3FG in final 3:34 to break open tie game
W vs. Wake (4) final go-ahead 3 @ 3:05 after Wake's 8-2 run
W vs. App State (6) 33 pts; 8-10 FT in final 1:14
W vs. Ill-Chi. (1) GW 3-pointer @ 0:12
W vs. St. Bona (4) 7-7 FT in final 0:33 Quick Recap: Charlotte was picked 10th in the A-10 preseason poll, but combined the leadership of senior Leemire Goldwire with the energy of the nation's 13th-ranked recruiting class to catapult into a tie for 4th-place, surpass last year's win total, and compile an 8-6 record vs. Top 100 RPI teams. Only scoring leader Leemire Goldwire (18.9 ppg) and sixth-man Ian Andersen averaged more than 6.0 minutes for the 49ers, last year. Juniors Lamont Mack, and Charlie Coley, sophomores Dijuan Harris, Michael Gerrity and Phil Jones and freshmen An'Juan Wilderness, Charles Dewhurst and Gaby Ngoundjo are all playing in their first season for the 49ers.
|
|
 |
