Update, 10:00 p.m. Confetti is falling from the ceiling as Charlotte celebrates a 77-61 victory over GW. The game was much closer than its score indicates, as it was only down the stretch that it got out of hand. Rob Diggs had a team-high 16 points and added 10 rebounds. Xavier Alexander chipped in a game-high 14 rebounds and also had six points and four assists. Wynton Witherspoon (14 points) and Noel Wilmore (13 points) rounded out GW’s top performers. Check www.gwhatchet.com for a full story later.
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Update, 9:56 p.m. Charlotte has taken control of the game in the last two minutes, currently leading 70-61 after a Damian Hollis three-pointer. There have been a few breakdowns on both ends of the floor, including one failure to defend on an inbounds play that seemed to make Hobbs livid. There’s 1:52 to play.
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Update, 9:44 p.m. Leemire Goldwire hit a contested three to put the 49ers up 59-55 and GW turned it over on the ensuing possession. Hobbs turned away and kicked the air after the turnover. There’s 3:49 left to play and it looks like this one will go down to the wire.
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Update, 9:36 p.m. Charlotte’s lead is down to 53-50 with exactly 7:00 to play. Noel Wilmore hit consecutive treys to turn an 11-point deficit into a five-point one, followed by Cheyenne Moore driving to the hoop and getting fouled for an old school three-point play. Charlotte responded with a dunk and three of their own, but GW scored again to keep it close.
I spoke with Wesley Witherspoon and he said that while he has yet to make up his mind regarding which school he will attend next fall, GW is still in the running because he would like to play with his brother. He also said that he would see himself fitting in as a ball-handler on the team and that he may attend the A-10 tournament if GW qualifies.
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Update, 9:25 p.m. Charlotte leads 46-35 with 11:53 to go as GW continues to struggle this half. The 49ers opened up a 12-point lead and when the Colonials began cutting it down, Andersen hit his fifth three-pointer of the night
Diggs is now just 3-10 from the floor as a lot of his close attempts have rimmed out. He is perfect from the line however, giving him 10 points.
Hatchet photographer Ben Solomon just reported that Wesley Witherspoon, Wynton’s younger brother and a highly touted recruit, is in attendance as well.
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Update, 9:16 p.m. The Colonials didn’t start off the second half very well, allowing Charlotte to gain some momentum that they have yet to relinquish. The 49ers lead 38-30 during a media timeout at 15:27, so there is still a lot of basketball to be played. Lee’s strong shooting from the Xavier game does not appear to be carrying over tonight as he is 0-5 from the floor, with four of the attempts from beyond the arc.
Alexander just got called for a charge on a play where he appeared to take an outstretched forearm to the face from his defender before they both fell to the ground. Also interesting was that during a timeout early in the half, Hobbs pulled all his players and coaches into a tight circle before squatting in the middle and delivering his message out of everyone’s view.
To update from before, I received word that the halftime players were 10 and 11 years of age.
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Update, 8:57 p.m. Andersen hit his fourth three of the game as time expired in the first half and Charlotte leads 29-25 at the break. Andersen started off cold but has heated up in a big way, scoring all 12 of his points in the latter portion of the half. He leads all scorers. Diggs leads GW in scoring with eight while Xavier Alexander and Wynton Witherspoon have each added six points. Alexander also has eight rebounds.
There also appeared to be an interesting exchange between Karl Hobbs and Charlotte junior Lamont Mack a few minutes ago. Mack scored from near the GW bench and then turned to yell something, presumably to the crowd, and was right in front of Hobbs when he said it. The next time down the court, the two appeared to smile at one another and then Mack was called for an off-ball foul. Hobbs clapped enthusiastically and appeared to say something to a nearby official.
Hatchet photographer Ben Solomon just told me that there is a member of the Witherspoon family sitting behind the Colonials’ bench.
Some little kids are playing 6-on-6 for the halftime entertainment and one of them just got swatted from behind on a fast break. The crowd went nuts. Another player crossed over his defender and then nearly hit a three. As time expired, a player drove and hit a runner that kissed off the backboard. I am terrible at estimating ages but I would put them in elementary school. They are extremely impressive.
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Update, 8:41 p.m. Charlotte just went on an 8-0 run capped by consecutive Ian Andersen threes to take a 19-18 lead with just over four minutes left int he half. GW responded by calling a timeout.
The safest thing to say would be that there has been more contact than the 14 combined fouls would indicate. Also, the teams have combined to shoot 14-50 from the floor, 3-19 from downtown, and turn the ball over 13 times. The fans are getting on Hobbs whenever he steps over the coach’s line on the sideline.
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Update, 8:24 p.m. The Colonials look very aggressive and confident on the court, currently leading 12-7 at the 11:48 mark. Alexander and Diggs each have four points so far and a couple of fans could be heard remarking how much Alexander looked like his older brother, De’Angelo, who graduated from Charlotte last year.
The 49ers mascot is using a T-shirt gun to shoot shirts into the crowd, but the fans are only really filling the first section of seats. He shot one of the T-shirts off the rafters so it would bounce down to the students. Even if it wasn’t intentional, it was impressive.
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Update, 8:14 p.m. First media timeout and the Colonials trail 5-2 with 15:45 to play in the first half. The game has been pretty physical so far with a lot of bumping and such. Witherspoon and Alexander broke up the 49ers’ first two passes of the game but Charlotte retained possession for Lamont Mack to hit an early three.
Johnny Lee got blocked from behind when driving for a layup at one point and was later called for a charge. Diggs rubbed Lee’s head on the way back to the bench, but Lee did not look deterred by what’s happened early.
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Update, 8:06 p.m. Introductions just ended and we’re finally ready for the game. Fans on the two sides of the arena exchanged chants of “Forty” and “Niners” to drown out GW’s intro. The lights went out and colored spotlights shot all over the place to the tune of a Timbaland song while the Charlotte players were introduced.
Witherspoon is starting in place of Rice.
Also, a correction from before: the students are not behind GW’s bench. The Colonials were warming up on both ends of the floor at the time and GW staff members were seated on the bench in question, leading to my incorrect assumption.
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Update, 7:51 p.m. Despite the Rice situation, the team seems to be in loose spirits during pre-game drills, with Witherspoon and Alexander leading the way. Fans have apparently caught wind of Rice’s dismissal as I heard someone reference it when jeering GW.
Cheyenne Moore just drew some sarcastic applause for a missed dunk that sent the ball sailing into the air. It didn’t appear to bother him as he played to the taunting crowd while running back to the end of the line.
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I’m here at Halton Arena in Charlotte for tonight’s game and the big news is that senior guard Maureece Rice has been dismissed from the program. Details are available in the post below. To summarize, Rice did not make the trip with the team and there have been no reasons given for the team rule(s) Rice violated. We will have more information as soon as it becomes available.
The arena holds 9,105 and a group of students has just filed in. They are currently seated at center court and behind the GW bench. Click the images below for bigger pictures.
