49ers fans celebrate the 49ers 91-90 victory over rival Cincinnati, Saturday. |
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49ers Topple #18/#17 Cincinnati, 91-90
Feb. 5, 2005
Halton Arena -- It might just as well have been Senior Day at Halton Arena, as Charlotte knocked of #18/#17 Cincinnati, 91-90 in front of a sold-out crowd of 9,105. Senior Brendan Plavich scored a game-high 26 points and senior Eddie Basden had his usual stat-stuffer performance with 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals to lead the 49ers.
Charlotte (15-4; 6-2), which had five players in double-figures, needed every one of those points, holding on to the one-point victory as Cincinnati's Armein Kirkland missed a jumper with just two seconds to play.
Plavich nailed a Halton Arena-record eight three-pointers to notch his first 20-point game on the home court in his two-year career. He hit 8-of-17 three-pointers including four second half bombs. Basden, meanwhile, tied the Conference USA record for career steals with 231, after grabbing four steals -- the 15th game that he's had at least three steals in a game this year. In so doing, Basden, who leads C-USA with 60 thefts, notched his third straight 60-steal season, the first player in 49ers history to do so.
Trailing by four, 51-47, at the half after Kirkland's three-pointer at the buzzer, Charlotte charged into the lead 66-61 on back-to-back three-pointers from Curtis Withers and Plavich. The 49ers stretched the lead to eight, 71-63, on another Plavich three with 11:31 to play but the Bearcats rallied back, cutting the lead to three, 72-69, on a pair of James White free throws at 9:25. A Jason Maxiell three-point play gave Cincinnati the lead 75-74, with 7:07 to play setting up a seesaw battle that saw seven more lead changes. Charlotte appeared to take control, 89-83 with 3:11 to play, thanks in part to a Plavich three and three foul shots by Basden, but Kirkland and White answered with back-to-back three-pointers of their own to tie the score, 89-89, with 1:52 left.
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Withers grabbed an offensive rebound off of a Plavich miss with 1:05 left and was fouled. His two free throws gave Charlotte a 91-89 lead. Cincinnati's Eric Hicks was fouled at the other end and managed just one of two free throws to make it 91-90. Mitchell Baldwin missed a driving layup on the 49ers possession, giving Cincinnati a last chance to win it, but Kirkland's jumper fell short.
Withers (15 points; seven rebounds), Mitchell Baldwin (10 points) and E.J. Drayton (10 points) joined Basden and Plavich in double figures. Hicks led Cincinnati with 20 points, White added 18, Maxiell 17, Nick Williams 15 and Jihad Muhammad 10 giving the Bearcats five scorers in double figures, as well.
NOTES: Plavich hit his 300th career three-pointer in the game. Plavich has hit 173 in two years with the 49ers and had 134 in two years at Vanderbilt, giving him 307 career treys.
Basden has scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games.
Drayton has scored in double figures seven times, this year, including each of the last three.
Charlotte has won six straight home games.
Charlotte hit 25 of 28 free throws in the game, with Withers going 8-for-8 and Basden going 7-for-7.
Cincinnati, which shot 54% in the first half, finished with .485 shooting, besting the 49ers who shot .415. Charlotte did enjoy a 43-34 rebounding edge, overturning the 52-33 rebounding advantage Cincinnati had in the previous meeting.
The 49ers hit a season-high 12 three-pointers.
