The Charlotte 49ers’ men’s basketball team has struggled to overcome disappointment this season, with their losses typically coming in bunches.
And on the heels of back-to-back losses, including Thursday’s 77-75 defeat against Florida Atlantic, the 49ers once again stared disappointment in the face entering Saturday’s home game against Florida International.
This time, however, Charlotte responded amid adversity. The 49ers seized the lead about two minutes in and never lost it, shooting a season-best 59.6 percent en route to a 95-80 win at Halton Arena.
[‘WHAT WE WANT:’ 49ers blast FIU behind 2nd-half run]
Here are five takeaways from the victory:
After scoring a career-high 18 points Thursday, redshirt junior Austin Ajukwa, a Clemson transfer, registered 30 points on 13-for-16 shooting Saturday. He also added 11 rebounds, marking his second double-double.
The performance marked Ajukwa’s fifth straight game with double-digit points. In that span, the guard is averaging 17.6 points on 58.3 percent shooting, including 61.1 percent on 3-pointers.
Charlotte (11-11, 5-6 Conference USA) won Saturday without senior forward Anthony Vanhook, who suffered an injury to his left shoulder Thursday. Coach Mark Price said the team is unsure when Vanhook, the 49ers’ leading rebounder, will return.
Charlotte held a 30-27 rebounding edge over Florida International (5-18, 1-9). This marked the third time over the past nine games the 49ers won the battle on the boards. They failed to do so in their first 13 games.
Despite averaging 10.1 points through Charlotte’s first 15 games, redshirt senior guard Braxton Ogbueze shot just 35.4 percent from the field, including 35.9 percent on 3-pointers.
Ogbueze’s shot, however, has steadily improved since scoring 26 against Louisiana Tech on Jan. 12. After scoring 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting Saturday, he is shooting 45.5 percent, including 45.7 percent on 3-pointers, over his past seven games.
Entering Saturday, 13th-place Florida International trailed the 10th-place 49ers by just 2 1/2 games in the conference standings.
With only 12 of 14 teams qualifying for the C-USA tournament, Charlotte couldn’t afford a loss to the Panthers given its remaining schedule. On Thursday, the 49ers start a three-game road trip against C-USA powers UAB, Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion.
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