Charlotte Edged By George Washington 62-60
March 1, 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Carl Elliott hit a turnaround jumper with 18 seconds left to give George Washington a 62-60 win over Charlotte on Thursday.
Elliott had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, coming up just shy of his second triple-double in two weeks, and bailed out the Colonials (19-8, 10-5 Atlantic 10), who blew a 13-point lead with under seven minutes left.
Maureece Rice added 15 points and Damian Hollis scored 12 for George Washington, which won its fourth straight game and will secure a bye in the first round of the conference tournament with a home win Saturday over Duquesne.
De'Angelo Alexander had 16 points for Charlotte (13-15, 6-9), but missed a potential game-winning 3-point attempt in the closing seconds.
Leemire Goldwire scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half and went over 1,000 points in his career as Charlotte lost its second straight.
The Colonials were seemingly in control, leading 56-43, when Charlotte stormed back.
Alexander's 3-pointer with 2:10 left made it 60-58. After Elliott hit only glass on a long 3-point attempt, the 49ers tied it on the next possession with Alexander's layup with 52 seconds left.
After a timeout, Elliott drilled a fadeaway 17-foot jumper from the right side to put George Washington ahead to stay.
A week after Alexander went over 1,000 career points, Goldwire became the 22nd player to reach the milestone when he hit a 3-pointer nine minutes into the game as Charlotte built a 20-11 lead.
Charlotte hit 7 of 14 3-pointers in the first half - and was only 2 of 9 from inside the arc and the Colonials cut the deficit to 31-26 at halftime.
When Charlotte center Antwon Coleman went to the bench with his fourth foul with 12:21 left, George Washington immediately attacked the inside, securing numerous offensive rebounds in a 14-4 run.
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Rice's 3-pointer with just under 8 minutes left made it 54-42.
The 49ers lost starting guard Jerell Jamison to a left foot injury midway through the half. Jamison, averaging 3.5 points per game, did not return.
NOTES: (Supplied by Charlotte 49ers Sports Information):
With Leemire Goldwire scoring his 1000th point, he and De'Angelo Alexander have both scored their 1000th point this season. The last 49er teammates to reach 1000 in the same season: Curtis Withers and Eddie Basden, 2005.
In addition to sharing team-high scoring honors with Alexander with 16 points, Leemire Goldwire pulled down a career-best nine rebounds.
George Washington hit the boards hard in the 2nd half, outrebounding Charlotte, 19-8. The loss of Jerell Jamison to a mid-foot sprain, hurt Charlotte on the boards. Jamison had five rebounds and one block in seven minutes in the first half as Charlotte owned a 20-17 rebounding edge.
Charlotte shot 40% from three-point range -- the first time this season, that the 49ers have shot at least 40% from long range and lost.
The 49ers shot just .556 (10-18) from the foul line.
Charlotte hosts St. Bonaventure, Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in its final game of the regular-season.
