Braxton Ogbueze. Photo by Maria Saenz.
Charlotte extended their winning streak to three games Thursday night in Miami, defeating FIU 72-69. The 49ers held off a late Panther run to improve their record in Conference USA to .500.
“Our guys have been gaining confidence so that we can finish games like tonight’s game,” Mark Price said after the win. “We have knocked the door down.”
Charlotte began the first half with a five-point lead after a Braxton Ogbueze three and a Jon Davis mid-range jumper. Soon after, Joseph Uchebo went down early with foul trouble and FIU regained the lead by scoring the next seven points. With Uchebo sitting, Benas Griciunas stepped up to score six points off the bench including a dunk that put the 49ers in front 16-14.
After numerous scoring exchanges, the game was tied at 30 with four minutes to go. Charlotte scored five unanswered points in a minute behind a basket from Curran Scott and an Andrien White three. But FIU answered by scoring the next six points to regain the lead. A couple of Reid Aube free throws in the final thirty seconds gave Charlotte the 37-36 halftime advantage.
The second half had the same storyline as the first, with three ties during the first seven minutes. An Ogbueze three opened the game up, 63-56, in favor of Charlotte. From there, Charlotte maintained a four-point lead until a three and potential four-point play by FIU’s Daviyon Draper, cutting the lead to two. Draper purposely attempted to miss the free throw to regain possesion and try to tie the game, but Uchebo closed the game by grabbing his tenth rebound.
“I put three big guys in there because you knew they were going to try and miss it on purpose,” Price said on the late-game situation. “I told them if you can’t grab it, then knock it out of there. Joseph waited until one second to get his double-double, so he went after that rebound hard.”
Uchebo led Charlotte with 19 points and 10 rebounds, extending his double-double streak to six games. Ogbueze followed with 15 points on five three-pointers and four assists. Lastly, coming off C-USA Freshman of the Week honors for the second time, Davis finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
The 49ers continue their road trip with a stop in Boca Raton as they matchup against Florida Atlantic. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.