CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Charlotte 49ers were able to overcome the Portland Pilots and 13 second-half points from senior guard Darren Cooper to win 59-46 in a non-conference game at Halton Arena on Monday night in Charlotte, N.C. The 13 points match a season-high for Cooper, but the Pilots drop their third straight to fall to 1-5 on the season. Charlotte, of the Atlantic-10 Conference, evens its record at 3-3.
Senior point guard Pooh Jeter also notched 13 points on the night giving him 1,667 for his career. He moved up two spots to eighth all-time on Portland’s career scoring charts.
Two players recorded double-doubles for the 49ers. Senior forward Curtis Withers, who is averaging a double-double in points and rebounds for the season, scored 17 points with a career-best 16 rebounds, while junior guard De’ Angelo Alexander had 16 points and 13 boards. On the night, Charlotte outrebounded the Pilots 50-29, including a 20-9 advantage in offensive rebounds.
"It was a game that featured a lot of missed shots," said head coach Michael Holton. "Charlotte’s rebounding, especially their offensive rebounding, was the difference in the game."
Portland hit 30 percent of its shots on the night and shot 25 percent (4-16) from behind the arc. The 49ers didn’t shoot much better going 37.7 percent from the field and only 17 percent (4-23) on their three-pointers.
The Pilots got off to another slow start and didn’t score their first field goal until almost eight minutes into the game, a 17-foot jumper from Jeter. Fortunately, UP only trailed 8-3. The Niners’ Alexander responded with a three-pointer and a lay-up to help Charlotte build its biggest lead of the half at 20-10.
The rest of the half belonged to the Pilots, who would outscore Charlotte 12-2 during the final six minutes of the period. The run started when junior post Chris Jackson found Jeter on a back-door cut for a lay-in. As the 49ers tried to bring the ball up court moments later, sophomore guard Jeremiah Dominguez made a steal at midcourt and found a sprinting Jeter near the hoop, who again converted on the lay-up.
After a pair of Jeter free-throws pulled the Pilots to within four points, UP again went backdoor as Jeter this time bypassed the lay-up to find a wide open Jackson on the other side of the hoop. Jackson threw it down for his first field goal this season.
Trailing 22-20, Portland had the final possession of the half. Dominguez could not convert a lay-up, but senior forward Donald Wilson was there for a put-back at the buzzer tying the game at 22-22. Charlotte won the battle of the boards during the first 20 minutes as the 49ers outrebounded the Pilots 26-17, led by nine from Withers.
Withers opened the second-half by scoring the first eight points after the break. The lead grew to 32-22 before sophomore forward Marcus Lewis gave Portland its first point of the half with a free-throw at 14:01. Cooper made UP’s first field-goal of the second period at 12:58, making it 34-25 in Charlotte’s favor. Cooper would follow with a three-pointer pulling the Pilots to within six with 12 minutes left to play.
Portland would hang around thanks to a nice feed from Cooper to Wilson on a fast break and another Cooper three-pointer.
Charlotte then added to the lead with a pair of three’s from senior guard Marcus Bennett, but Cooper was up to the challenge as he hit yet another one from behind the arc as UP trailed by nine with six to play.
The Niners then gained momentum on a thunderous dunk from Withers on an alley-oop pass from senior guard Mitchell Baldwin. Charlotte followed with a break away lay-up by Bennett, to make it 51-38 with 4:20 left on the clock. Charlotte held on from there.
"They were able to make a couple of runs during the second half that we weren’t able to match," Holton said.
Charlotte held 17-8 edge in second chance points, but also turned the ball over 15 times to Portland’s 11. Points in the point were almost even as the 49ers held a slim advantage at 26-24.
Next up for the Pilots is a home game against Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Chiles Center.
