CHARLOTTE — Freshman Jahmir Young scored 24 points and Charlotte snapped a long losing streak to ACC opponents by beating Wake Forest 67-65 in overtime on Sunday night.
Seeking to end a 13-game losing streak to ACC opposition, Charlotte scored the first six points after regulation and held on from there. Wake Forest made just 2 of 11 from the field in overtime.
It marks the 49ers first win over an ACC opponent since an 86-83 overtime win at Georgia Tech on Jan. 2, 2011.
The largest city in North Carolina, Charlotte is in the middle of the ACC, annually hosts its football title game, and has frequently hosted the ACC basketball and baseball tournaments.
Jordan Shepherd added 16 points, four in overtime, for Charlotte and Malik Martin had 12 points.
Brandon Childress had 19 points and Chaudree Brown added 12 for Wake Forest. Adrien White — a transfer from Charlotte — scored 10 points.
Four days after downing cross-county rival Davidson 71-58 for Charlotte’s first win in “The Hornets Nest” series since 2012, the 49ers followed up with a win over the Demon Deacons (2-2).
Charlotte took a 15-7 lead midway through the first half before Wake Forest rallied forge ahead 25-24 with 2:42 left in the opening half.
The teams went into halftime tied at 29-all and the margin was never more than six points in the second half.
Charlotte held a 54-48 lead sith 4:26 to play before Wake Forest hit three 3-pointers in the final 1:19 to force overtime.
Wake Forest’s last chance bounded away when Childress’ 3-pointer from the right wing with 7.2 seconds left was off-target. The Deacons converted 10-of-25 3-pointers overall.
Big Picture
Wake Forest: After losing its regular season and ACC opener 77-70 at Boston College, Wake Forest had won two straight before Sunday’s loss.
Charlotte: After five straight losing seasons, including 6-23 in 2017-18 and 8-21 in 2018-19, the 49ers are clearly making progress under second-year coach Ron Sanchez.
Up Next
Wake Forest: The Deacons will be back in Charlotte on Friday night when they meet Davidson at The Spectrum Center that is the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
Charlotte: The 49ers visit in-state rival Appalachian State on Thursday.
Nwora scores 17 points in No. 4 Louisville’s win over NC Central
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — North Carolina Central coach LaVelle Moton said he had to pick his poison when his Eagles faced fourth-ranked Louisville on Sunday. So, his team let the Cardinals fire away.
It ended up almost becoming a historic shooting night for the Cardinals.
Jordan Nwora scored 17 points to lead Louisville in an 87-58 rout.
The Cardinals (4-0) once again had the hot hand on offense. They entered the game ninth in the country in shooting at 54.1%, and they shot 66.7% against the Eagles. With five players averaging in double figures and two shooting better than 50 percent from the 3-point arc for the season, Moton said the Eagles couldn’t guard everything in Louisville’s arsenal.
“We tried to dare them to shoot the basketball,” Moton said. “I think they shot it better than they ever have.”
It was Louisville’s best shooting performance since the Cardinals hit 70 percent of their shots in a 94-67 victory over Tulane on Feb. 27, 1993. The team’s shooting record is 71.4% last reached Jan. 12, 1983, in a 91-76 win at Duke.
Louisville never trailed in the contest and used a 19-4 run over the last 5:41 of the first half to pull away. Enoch and Sutton both scored 10 in the half as Louisville led 43-19 at halftime.
The Eagles (1-3) shot just 28.6% in the first half, missing 10 of the final 12 shots in the half as Louisville pulled away. N.C. Central never got closer than 17 points in the second half.
Randy Miller Jr. led NCCU with 15 points.
