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University of Louisville
Charlotte
Men's Basketball Falls Short Against Charlotte, 77-71
January 23, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2002
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Cam Stephens and Demon Brown scored 19 points apiece as Charlotte held off a late Louisville rally to beat the Cardinals 77-71 on Wednesday night.
Louisville held Charlotte leading scorer Jobey Thomas to nine points, but Thomas still hurt the Cardinals by scoring the game's final four points from the line to secure the victory.
Charlotte (11-6, 5-1 Conference USA) led 67-54 with 7:52 remaining, but Louisville cut the margin to five on a Reece Gaines 3-pointer with 3:47 to go.
Gaines hit another 3-pointer to make it 73-71 with 1:20 left. Erik Brown then stole the ball from Thomas, but Luke Whitehead misfired on a 3-on-1 fast break.
Thomas was fouled with 27.8 seconds after Charlotte regained possession and made both free throws to give the 49ers a four-point lead. Gaines missed a pair of free throws with 14.3 seconds left, then Thomas sealed the win with two more from the line with 7.9 seconds to go.
Gaines led all scorers with 23 points while Whitehead added 13 for Louisville (11-6, 2-4) in Rick Pitino's first college coaching visit to Charlotte. Stephens also grabbed 11 rebounds for the 49ers.
Charlotte opened up a 41-30 lead following a 12-0 run late in the first half and led 43-34 at the break. Louisville trimmed the deficit to 47-43 on Gaines' baseline jumper with 17 minutes left, but Charlotte outscored the Cardinals 14-5 to lead 61-48 on Kevin Johnson's 19-foot jumper with 11:36 left.
Charlotte hit seven of its first eight shots to lead 17-7 with 16:13 left in the half.
