49ers men qualify for A-10 tournament

George Washington, by virtue of its 77-62 loss at Massachusetts on Wednesday night, assured the Charlotte 49ers would participate in next week's A-10 conference tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. George Washington and Fordham will be the two A-10 teams (of 14) that will not participate in the conference tournament this season.

Charlotte (11-18, 5-10) has one game remaining, Saturday at St. Bonaventure. Based on the 49ers' performance in that game, Charlotte can enter the tournament next week anywhere from a 10th to 12th seed. In any case, they will open play in the tournament next Wednesday.

Niners earn several women's bball awards

Four members of the Charlotte women's basketball team earned all-conference honors Wednesday. Charlotte sophomore Shannon McCallum, a Whiteville native, was named the Atlantic 10's Sixth Player of the Year and honorable mention all-conference. McCallum is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game and rebounding at 5.8 rebounds per game.

Senior center Danielle Burgin and junior guard Aysha Jones were both named second-team all-conference. Senior point guard Traci Ray was named to the league's academic all-conference team. Burgin was one of four 49ers to average in double-figures at 11.3 points per game. She finished the regular-season third in the A-10 in rebounding with a team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game. Jones finished the regular-season ranked among the A-10 leaders after scoring a team-leading 14.0 points per game.

Charlotte (20-8, 11-3) opens play at 8 p.m. Saturday in the A-10 tournament, which it is hosting at Halton Arena Friday through Monday.

More A-10 tournament scenarios

Charlotte's loss Tuesday night to Richmond kept the possibility alive the 49ers could be left out of next week's Atlantic 10 Conference tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. However, of the 16 remaining scenarios that can play out this week, Charlotte would still get in on 15 of them, thus it is more than likely Charlotte will make the tournament. The best the 49ers can do now is a 10th seed and the worst is 12th.

Regardless of Charlotte's game Saturday at St. Bonaventure, the 49ers get in if Massachusetts beats George Washington tonight. The only scenario in which Charlotte doesn't make the tournament is if G.W. wins its final two games against UMass and Temple, UMass wins at Rhode Island AND Charlotte loses Saturday at St. Bonaventure.

Should Charlotte make the A-10 tournament, it's first game would be next Wednesday at either 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. or 9 p.m., depending on whether it is the 10th, 11th or 12th seed.

On tap: Richmond at Charlotte

It's Senior Night for the Charlotte 49ers, who will honor seniors Lamont Mack and Charlie Coley but even more important will be a victory, which can help Charlotte lock in a berth in the Atlantic 10 tournament next week. Richmond has beaten Charlotte three straight times, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Coley, who joined the 49ers as a junior transfer last season. "It's the only team we haven't beaten while I've been here," he said. "I mean, we've beat Xavier and not beaten them."

According to sports information director Tom Whitestone, who has had to spend way too much time on clinching scenarios of late, the 49ers should clinch a tournament appearance with a win against Richmond. Basically, a win gives Charlotte six conference victories (with one game remaining). Of the schools in the same position - Charlotte, George Washington, St. Bonaventure and UMass, Charlotte would own the tiebreakers with any of the others who finished with six as the 49ers own a win over the conference's top team, Xavier.

A loss to Richmond would once again open up a plethora of additional scenarios. One that definitely would not favor the 49ers is if Charlotte losses its final two conference games (the finale is Saturday at St. Bonaventure). In that case if Charlotte losses both, G.W. beats UMass and then both UMass and G.W. win their season finales, that would leave Charlotte with five wins and the others six.

Charlotte's final two games are home with Richmond and at St. Bonaventure; G.W. is at UMass and home against Temple; UMass is home against G.W. and at Rhode Island; and St. Bonaventure is at Saint Joseph's and home against Charlotte.

Brown named A-10 co-rookie of week

Freshman Shane Brown, who hit an inside-the-park grand slam in his first collegiate bat last week for the Charlotte 49ers, has been named the Atlantic 10 Conference's co-rookie of the week.

The home run by Brown, a Davidson native who starred at North Mecklenburg High, gave Charlotte an 8-4 win over Oakland (Mich.). He was rewarded with starts in the next two games, and he delivered two RBI in each, including a bases-loaded two-RBI single in Charlotte’s eight-run sixth inning Wednesday in an 11-3 win over Oakland. He also had a pair of doubles and two more RBI in Charlotte's 7-1 Thursday.

Charlotte (3-3) next plays Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Furman, then returns to Hayes Stadium for an eight-game homestand.

Charlotte women get No. 3 seed

The Charlotte 49ers are one of four teams to receive a first-round bye in this weekend's Atlantic 10 Conference women's basketball tournament, which opens Friday at Halton Arena. Charlotte (20-8, 11-3) is the tournament's third seed. Top seed Xavier, No. 2 Temple and No. 4 Richmond also received byes.

The 49ers will open play at 8 p.m. Saturday in the quarterfinals against the winner of Friday's game between Duquesne and Massachusetts. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Charlotte enters the A-10 tournament after winning 11 of its 13 games. The 49ers defeated Duquesne, 83-78, in their regular season meeting on Feb. 7. Charlotte defeated UMass, 67-53, for the team's first league road win of the season on Jan. 14.

"The tournament will be a huge challenge, and the league is so strong that you can’t take anything for granted," said Charlotte coach Karen Aston. "We will take one step at a time, as we strive for the goal, which is a NCAA bid. It will be great basketball at Halton Arena, and I hope the Charlotte community will come out and support women’s basketball and the 49ers."

More from Charlotte's win over Fordham

--Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz was none too happy with the 49ers' lack of rebounding in the first half Saturday against Fordham. The 49ers led 35-26 at the halftime but were getting out-rebounded 21-15, including 10-6 on the offensive end. "At halftime coach told us we weren't playing hard and I think he said they were minus-11 on the year (in rebounding margin)so he was yelling and getting in our face telling us to turn it up. We had to rebound and get on the boards," said center Phil Jones. It worked - Charlotte out-rebounded Fordham 23-11 in the second half and the Rams had just one offensive rebound in the second half.

--Junior shooting guard RaShad Coleman struggled again from the 3-point line (he missed all five shots) but contributed in several other ways for the 49ers. He scored 11 points, made all three of his free throws, had five rebounds, three assists and a steal. His reverse two-handed slam off an alley-oop pass from DiJuan Harris was the highlight play of the game.

--A reminder that Charlotte seniors Lamont Mack and Charlie Coley will be honored during Tuesday night's regular season home finale against Richmond. Senior Day activities were originally scheduled for Saturday but had to be postponed due to a death in Coley's family. Game time Tuesday is 7 p.m. at Halton Arena.