Owls fall short after losing lead in matchup against 49ers

Carl Pierre has earned the privilege to take the crucial shot in the closing seconds of a basketball game and be a difference maker. Coming into Saturday evening’s Conference-USA matchup with Charlotte, the Rice sharpshooter was successful on 15 3-pointers over his previous two games.

Positioned to even the score, Pierre missed two 3-point attempts in the final six seconds, allowing Charlotte to escape Tudor Fieldhouse with a 67-64 victory over the Owls. The tightly contested affair had 10 lead changes, 11 ties, and no team led by more than six points.

“Disappointing. They played better down the stretch than we did,” Rice coach Scott Pera said. “They converted and deserved to win. Our guys weren’t sharp. We got what we deserved, that starts with me.”

Rice (11-7, 4-3) was up by six (3630) at the break and had the ball first to open the second half. Charlotte (10-7, 3-2) scored the half ’s first six points on back-toback 3s from Jackson Threadgill and Austin Butler to knot the score 36-36. From there it was a struggle to the finish.

“Our beginnings of second halves have not been great,” Pera said. “And you’re playing with fire when you keep trying to come from behind. Our guys continue to fight but we didn’t make enough plays and they did.”

A layup from Max Fiedler with 5:05 remaining gave Rice its final lead, 58-56. A basket by the Owls’ Mylyjael Poteat, on an assist from Pierre, tied the game 62-all with 1:52 left.

Charlotte went out in front for good 64-62 on Butler’s layup with 1:23 to play. A dunk by Poteat, the last of his team-high 15 points, got the Owls within a point (65-64) with 18 seconds remaining.

With six seconds left, Pierre had an open look at the basket but his corner 3 bounced out. Poteat grabbed the offensive rebound, giving Pierre one final opportunity to tie the game. But Pierre’s contested 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.

“A tough shot,” Pera said. “Trying to get a 3 off to tie the game is difficult in those circumstances. The way he’s shot the ball for us this year, he’s earned the right to take that shot so we’ll live with the results.”

Charlotte, whose largest lead was only four points, collected only one steal, had no blocks, and committed more turnovers and had more fouls called on them than Rice. Yet the 49ers prevailed.

Charlotte was 24-of-45 from the field for 53.3 percent. Threadgill, who shared team scoring honors with Butler at 14 points, was 4-of-7 from long range.

Chris Mullins did an outstanding job defensively for the Owls on Jahmir Young, a contender for C-USA Player of the Year. The league’s second-leading scorer (19.6) coming in, Young was held to 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.

Coming off the bench, Poteat was 6-of-9 from the field. Travis Evee contributed 13 and Pierre 12. The Owls were 7-of-21 on 3-pointers but missedseven layups.

“We got to score inside, we can’t rely on 3s,” Pera said. “Mylyjael’s been a big help and he’s going to continue to be a good player and we just got to get everybody better.”