NinerReport.com - Niners Run Past Golden Bulls

November 5, 2009

Tim Parker
NinerReport.com Publisher

Junior Shamari Spears was on a mission for the Charlotte 49ers during their exhibition against Johnson C. Smith. For the past 20 months all he has done is practice and work out against his teammates. Tonight provided him the opportunity to take on fresh meat.

With that being said he knew what he needed to do. "I felt like I needed to come out and set the tone early," he said.

He relished the opportunity and dominated the Golden Bulls in the Niners 91-70 victory. The Niners ran past the Golden Bulls behind Spears game high 26 points, 15 of those coming in the first half. He shot 7-13 from the field and was perfect in all 12 of his attempts at the free throw line.

The Niners dictated the pace from the opening tip and sprinted out to 10-4 lead four minutes and 29 seconds into the game. They would go on a 16-4 run over the next 5:33 to increase their lead to 18.

Phil Jones' jumper with 2:37 remaining in the first half gave the Niners a 51-20 which proved to be their largest lead in the game.

The Niners led 52-27 at the half. "I was really happy with our first half," said 12th year Head Coach Bobby Lutz. "I thought we came out and really dictated the play."

The Golden Bulls settled down to begin the second half and pulled to as close as 16 but never threatened the Niners.

Senior point guard DiJuan Harris scored eight points and added 10 assists while freshman Chris Braswell scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked three shots in 17 minutes of play.

Jones scored five points, grabbed four rebounds, and added five blocks.

Jerry Hollis led the Golden Bulls with 16 points.

The Niners scored 48 points in the paint and scored 19 points off of 15 Golden Bull turnovers. Harris knows that the Niners post players must keep up that kind of production.

"For us to be good they'll have to produce night in and night out," he said.

The Niners will begin their season next Friday against UNC Asheville at 7:30p.m. in Halton Arena.

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