Saturday sets up as odd day for 49ers

Wednesday was an eventful night in the Atlantic 10, nowhere more so than in Pittsburgh, where the Charlotte 49ers snapped a four-game losing streak in unlikely fashion with an 89-87 overtime victory against Duquesne.

Elsewhere, Xavier won at Saint Louis 77-66 in overtime, putting an end to the 16th-ranked Billikens' 11-game winning streak. No. 21 VCU pulled into a first-place tie with Saint Louis by beating cross-town rival Richmond 93-82.

Other results further down the standings had a more direct impact on Charlotte: George Washington's 84-70 loss against La Salle dropped the Colonials' into 13th place and allowed the 49ers to move one game ahead of GW and into a four-way tie for ninth with Dayton, Richmond and St. Bonaventure.

That sets up what will be an odd day Saturday for the 49ers, who lose any combination of tiebreakers with the three teams they're tied with, as well as with GW. Charlotte (19-10, 7-8) can qualify for the 12-team Atlantic 10 tournament next week in Brooklyn by beating Saint Joseph's (17-11, 8-7) on Saturday or if GW loses a home game against streaking Dayton (which has won four of five).

The GW-Dayton game is at 2 p.m.; the Charlotte-St. Joe's game is at 7. So the 49ers will know all they need to know by the time they tip off with the Hawks. They'll either already be in if GW loses, or face the task of having to beat a Hawks team that's won its last two league games (against Fordham and Rhode Island) by an average of 31.5 points.

-- Charlotte's rally from a 17-point second-half deficit against Duquesne wasn't the largest comeback in school history, but it was one of them. Charlotte's biggest comeback remains against Tennessee in 1995, when the 49ers trailed by 26 with 15:04 remaining. Charlotte eventually won 79-76 in what at the time was the fourth largest comeback of all time in college basketball, according to ESPN.

-- What point guard Pierria Henry is doing on the boards this season is amazing. The 6-4 Henry had 10 rebounds against Duquesne (all defensive), the fourth time this season he's rebounded in double figures. He also had 11 against Texas State and VCU and 10 against Rhode Island. He's averaging 5.1 per game. Henry filled up the box score Wednesday, also with 18 points, three steals and five assists before fouling out. The 49ers also got a big rebounding game from another unlikely source: guard Terrence Williams, who had 12 to go along with 15 points and five assists. The rebounding of Henry and Williams was needed because freshmen forwards Willie Clayton (3) and Darion Clark (0) spent much of the game in foul trouble and had off nights.

-- Williams also had five turnovers and Henry had four, a continuing problem for Charlotte. The 49ers had 20 against Duquesne, and they now average 15.4 per game, which translates into a paltry .8 assist/turnover ratio. Another danger area: the Dukes made 12-of-21 3-pointers, the fifth consecutive game a Charlotte opponent has hit more than 40 percent of its long-range shots.

-- Other reasons for the 49ers to feel optimistic about this weekend, and, potentially, beyond: Senior center Chris Braswell's 28 points against Duquesne were a season high and three points off his career high of 31 against UMass last season. Braswell also had five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. And freshman guard Ivan Benkovic followed his career-high 15-point effort against St. Bonaventure with nine against Duquesne, a night that included a key steal and 3-pointer late in regulation. Benkovic is 8-of-15 from 3-point range in the last two games.