Saturday, January 5, 2008

Charlotte's bench runs deep

Charlotte might be unpredictable at times with a team filled with eight newcomers, but one thing the 49ers have had plenty of this season is help.

It was evident again in Saturday's 76-72 loss to Maryland at Bobcats Arena.

Charlotte's bench outscored the Terrapins 25-8 with freshman Charles Dewhurst and sophomore DiJuan Harris scoring seven apiece, freshman Gaby Ngoundjo adding six and sophomore Ian Andersen netting five.

So far this season, Charlotte's bench has averaged 20.6 points per game and outscored opponents' benches 258-182. Eight different players scored against Maryland -- the 10th game this year that at least eight players have hit the scoring column.

And it's not just on offense the help arrives.

Ngoundjo matched a Charlotte freshman record with six blocks against Fairleigh Dickinson while Dewhurst provided a similar lift on defense in Saturday's game with his hustle.

-- Jim Utter

4 comments:

Justin Ritchie said...

The Niners could have easily beat Maryland with a little more patience. Towards the end with about a minute left, down by 3 with the ball in Lee's hands... Lee takes a three falling backwards with 2 guys in his face. Pass the ball and get a 2 at that point and you are only down 1. These are just the things that come with experience. The Clemson game will show us how we can match up with top 25 teams and hopefully will give us confidence facing UMASS, URI, Dayton and Xavier.

Anonymous said...

Goldwire's a senior...how much experience does it take?

Anonymous said...

Not so much patients as it is preperation and coaching, or lack thereof. We still look confused!
I agree with Justin.....with 18 seconds left we should have gotten a better shot. I love Lee but we have other shooters on the team. Especially when the other team is gonna key on him, and he's shooting 3-16 from the arch every game lately.

Anonymous said...

think Moxley was doing most of the coaching during the comeback..niners to have another go to shooter...teams have figured out that shutting down Lee will shutdown the 49er offense...