Sophomore An'Juan Wilderness scored 15 points in the season-opener. |
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Charlotte Hosts Old Dominion After 18-Point Win In Season-Opener
Nov. 15, 2008
Halton Arena -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
GAME #2
Charlotte 49ers (1-0)
vs. Old Dominion (0-0)
Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008; 6:00 p.m.
Halton Arena (9,105)
Webcast Video: Niner Network All-Access @ www.Charlotte49ers.com
The Coach:
Bobby Lutz, Charlotte
Career: 370-217 (20th year)
at Charlotte: 189-126 (11th year)
(49ers all-time winningest coach)
Notes: Charlotte and Old Dominion were former members of the Sun Belt Conference, together. Old Dominion is 12-13 all-time vs the Monarchs. Lutz is 2-1 vs. ODU, with wins in the last wo meetings: a 105-102 double OT win in Norfolk, Dec. 6, 2003 and a 72-48 victory at Halton Arena, Jan. 26, 2000. Charlotte is 8-4 al-time at home vs. ODU, 2-0 in games played at Halton Arena.
THE GAME:
The Charlotte 49ers (1-0) host Old Dominion, Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in a match-up of two former Sun Belt Conference members. Old Dominion will be playing its first game of the season. The two teams have not met since Dec. of 2003, when the 49ers scored a 105-102 double OT victory on a long, game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left by Brendan Plavich.
The 49ers opened the 2008-09 season with a 77-59 home win over UNC Greensboro, Friday night. Senior Lamont Mack, a preseason second-team all-Atlantic 10 choice, notched his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead four 49ers in double figures. Sophomore An'Juan Wilderness (15 points), junior RaShad Coleman (14 points) and junior Phil Jones (11 points) all hit double-digits in the opener.
PRESEASON NOTES:
Charlotte was picked to finish 5th in the Atlantic 10 Conference in a preseason poll of the leagues coaches and media. Charlotte was picked to finish third by both The Sporting News and Athlon Sports preseason publications; sixth by Lindy's publication. Senior forward Lamont Mack, the 49ers leading returning scorer, was named a preseason second team all-Atlantic 10 selection.
MACK EARNS PRESEASON NOD:
Charlotte 49ers senior forward Lamont Mack was named to the preseason all-Atlantic 10 second team. Mack is the 49ers top returning scorer. He averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, last season. His numbers improved in the seasson's second half. He averaged 15.6 points in Atlantic 10 games and scored 15 or more points in 11 of the final 17 games. Mack shot .411 from three-point range against A-10 competition. He was second on the team in rebounding (5.1/game), last year and was one of four 49ers with over 35 steals.
RETURNING STARS:
Charlotte returns four starters and seven players who averaged double-digit minutes, last season. Returning starters include senior forwards Lamont Mack and Charlie Coley. Mack is the 49ers leading returning scorer and a preseason 2nd-team all-A-10 choice. Coley was the 49ers leader in rebounds, blocks and dunks. Junior point guard DiJuan Harris, who led the 49ers in assists and led the A-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio is back as the starting point guard and sophomore wing An'Juan Wilderness returns after being named to the A-10's all-Rookie Team.
NINERS COMING OFF 20-WIN SEASON; POST-SEASON APPEARANCE:
Charlotte is coming off Lutz's fifth 20-win season with the 49ers. Charlotte went 20-14, last year, placing tied for fourth in the A-10, and advancing to the NIT, the eighth postseason appearance in Lutz's 10 years at the helm. Lutz, who became the 49ers all-time winningest coach, last season, also holds school records for 20-win seasons (5), NCAA Tournament berths (5) and postseason appearances (8).
LUTZ PROVIDES A DECADE OF 49ER PRIDE:
Charlotte has been to post-season play in eight of Bobby Lutz's 10 seasons, including a school-record five NCAA Tournament appearances. In the last five years, Charlotte has posted one first-place, two second-place and a 4th-place league finish (2004 C-USA Champs; 2005 C-USA Runner-up; 2006 A-10 Runner-up, 2008 A-10 4th-Place). He passed Jeff Mullins' as the 49ers all-time winningest coach, last year, with his 183rd victory as 49ers head coach. He now has 189 wins. By opening his 11th season, he has matched Mullins for the longets tenure of a 49ers head coach.
FIELD OF 64:
FOXSPORTS.com predicts the 49ers will be in the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. In their Hoops Hysteria bracket, FOXSPORTS.com has awarded the 49ers a #7 seed. They predict the 49ers lose their first round game vs. Baylor. Interestingly, the 49ers could face Baylor in the second round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Ca., Nov. 28.
OH, CANADA:
Over the Labor Day Weekend, the 49ers took a four-day; three-game trip to Canada, where they got an early glimpse of the 2008-09 edition of men's basketball. The 49ers went 3-0, outscoring their three foes by an average of 49.0 points. Charlotte averaged 106.7 points in the three games while forcing an average of 24.3 turnovers with 14.3 steals per game. Three different players led the 49ers in scoring in the three games (Ian Andersen with 18 in 109-55 win over Sheridan College; Shamarr Bowden with 21 in a 123-59 victory over York University and Charlie Coley with 15 in an 88-59 win over University of Toronto.). Eight different 49ers scored in double figures at least once. Junior RaShad Coleman did not play on the trip due to injury. Freshman Shamarr Bowden, the 49ers leading scorer over the three-game tour, has since injured his knee and will redshirt the season.
MADNESS:
Senior high flyer Charlie Coley won the 49ers annual Slam Dunk Contest at Basketball Madness. In Coley's first dunk, he jumped over DiJuan Harris as Harris pedalled away on a stationary bike. For his second dunk he initially brought out 5-11 guard Kyle Church before sending him back and pulling out 6-10 center Phil Jones. Coley then jumped over Jones while he dunked. His third dunk came on a bounce pass from the upper concourse of Halton Arena from Harris.
STRONG SLATE:
The 49ers schedule includes at least 17 games against teams that reached the postseason, last year. Nine of those games will be played in Halton Arena.
NATIONAL TV:
Eight of the 49ers games will be on national television via ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or CBS College Sports (CBS C). All three games at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Nov. 27-30 will be broadcast on either ESPN2 or ESPNU. The 49ers home game with Xavier (Feb. 19) will be broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2 and the home date with Richmond was recently moved to Mar. 3 so that it can be broadcast nationally by CBS College Sports.
MEN OF STEAL:
Last year, Charlotte had 271 steals and forced 574 turnovers, the most in both categories since 1991, when the 49ers set school records with 363 steals and 649 turnovers forced. In the season-opening win over UNC Greensboro, Charlotte forced 23 turnovers with nine steals. The 23 turnovers matches the season-high of a year ago.
DOUBLE-UP:
Four different 49ers scored in double figures in the season-opening victory over UNC Greensboro: Lamont Mack 18; An'Juan Wilderness 15; RaShad Coleman 14; Phil Jones 11.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES:
Lamont Mack posted the 49ers first double-double of the year with 18 points and 10 rebounds against UNC Greensboro -- the first of his career. The 49ers had five double-doubles, last year: 2 by Charlie Coley and Charles Dewhurst; one by Leemire Goldwire.
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