The Charlotte 49ers (8-4) fell in a buzzer beater to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-4) 58-55 in a game that seemed uncharacteristic for the mostly young Charlotte team.
It appeared to be an off night for many of the 49ers as each player struggled with executing their shots.
“I think the guys wanted to win the game very badly and at times, that can create a little bit of antsy-ness,” said Head Coach Alan Major.
“Not in a selfish way, but an antsy-ness to want to make a play. I think the guys know how powerful this crowd is once we do get on a run. When you want to win a game really badly, there’s a tendency to get in a bit of a rush.”
Denzel Ingram got off to an impressive start for the 49ers as it seemed every shot he took found it’s way inside the basket. At the half, Ingram was 5-6 from the field and 1-2 from outside the perimeter leading the team with 11 points.
“The ball felt good today, so I just wanted to keep attacking,” said Ingram.
“The shot felt good early on in the shoot-around, so I just wanted to transfer that over to the game.”
Ingram finished the day with a career-high 20 points, four rebounds and two steals.
“I thought Denzel played exactly how we asked him to,” said Coach Major.
“I thought he offensively kind of put his team on his back and played really well.”
Mike Thorne got off to a slow start for Charlotte, but moved Niner Nation to their feet as he was able to come up with a dunk in traffic.
With 10.8 seconds left in the half, Coach Major called a timeout as his team was down by three points and had the ball.
The 49ers went into the locker room trailing 27-24 to the Yellow Jackets. Charlotte was shooting 10-28 (35.7 percent) from the field, 1-5 (20 percent) from deep and 3-6 (50 percent) from the line. Georgia Tech dominated on second chances as they held a 10-0 advantage over the 49ers. Charlotte was out-rebounded 23-15.
Coming out of the locker room, the 49ers got off to a tough start. The Yellow Jackets came out and scored the first five points and after a questionable jumper from Willie Clayton, Coach Major was forced to call a timeout.
“We have to listen to more details in practice. It starts in practice,” said Clayton.
“Every time we get to a close game, it starts in practice. Little things in practice.”
Missed layups and ill-advised jumpers caused quite a problem for the 49ers throughout the night. With less than six minutes to play in the game, Terrence Williams cut Georgia Tech’s lead to three with a beautiful three from just outside the arc.
With 3:51 left on the clock, the 49ers trailed by eight points despite holding a 22-18 advantage in points in the paint.
With 22.7 seconds left, Ingram put up his third and final three of the night to cut Georgia Tech’s lead to just three.
Georgia Tech was able to push their lead out to five before Clayton was fouled and went 2-2 at the line bringing the 49ers back within three points.
After missing his first six opportunities from past the arc, Shawn Lester finally found his spot and tied the game with just 10 seconds left on the clock.
Trae Golden, who finished the night with 24 points for the Yellow Jackets, was able to put up his fourth three of the night with just 3.6 seconds left.
Henry sunk a three at the buzzer and Halton erupted but after it was reviewed, it was ruled that he put the shot up after the buzzer lifting the Yellow Jackets over the 49ers by a final score of 58-55.
“I thought the guys did a great job being disruptive, causing some turnovers. It’s one thing to cause a turnover, but I thought they did a great job converting,” said Coach Major.
“The guys never hung their heads. I think guys are starting to understand that we have to continue to be a team. Tough pill to swallow.”
The 49ers finished the night shooting 20-60 (33.3 percent) from the field, 6-18 (33.3 percent) from deep and 9-14 (64.3 percent) from the line.
The 49ers host North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. in Halton Arena before they open up Conference USA play.