Braswell propels Niners to victory
The Charlotte 49ers defeated a high-octane Georgia Southern Eagles squad 66-53 on Tuesday night in Halton Arena.
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"The game just came to me" said Chris Braswell who earned his 23rd career double-double in his first game of the season with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Demario Mayfield was still out under the same suspension that sat Braswell last week.
GSU was lead by the versatile Junior Forward, Eric Ferguson (11 pts, 10 reb) who gave 49ers big men, E. Victor Nickerson (7pts, 4 reb) and Willie Clayton (8pts, 9 reb) problems in the paint with his vertical advantage.
49ers Head Coach Alan Major commended the depth of his team afterwards in regards to his nine man rotation who all chipped in.
GSU showed a full court press just five minutes into the game forcing early turnovers to result in early transition baskets for the Eagles. This remained throughout the game with many high post traps from guard, Tre Bussey (10 pts, 1 reb) who lead the game with three steals.
The 49ers began the second half with a 13-2 run that lasted eight minutes and gave them their largest lead (14) with just 12 minutes remaining in the game.
The remainder became a game of possession as the 49ers closed out a resurgent GSU attack fueled by Ferguson to force the Eagles to start the season 0-2.
For GSU, Cleon Roberts (11pts, 2 reb) and CJ Reed (7pts, 1 reb) aided to cause three lead changes in the first half forcing the likes of Pierria Henry (13pts, 6 reb) and Terrence Williams (6pts, 3 reb) to step up defensively against a very fast paced GSU offense.
Overall the game was decided on the fact that Charlotte outrebounded GSU 40-19 and forced the Eagles to shoot 34.8 percent (16-46) from the field.
Shooting percentages picked up for Charlotte with a 48 percent (21-43) clip from the field and 74 percent (23-31) from the free throw line.
J.T. Thompson made his first appearance and contributed with four points and two rebounds.
The 49ers will take on the Lamar Cardinals Saturday, November 17th in Halton Arena at 7:30 p.m.