CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Derrio Green scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half as Charlotte won its first Atlantic 10 Conference game of the season, 71-61 over Fordham on Saturday night.
Jamar Briscoe added 20 points and Chris Braswell had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the 49ers (9-8, 1-2), who broke a 57-57 tie late to pull away and end a two-game losing streak.
Brenton Butler scored 14 points, Lamount Samuell added 11 and Chris Gaston 10 for the Rams (6-9, 0-3), who rallied from a three-point halftime deficit only to lose their fifth straight game.
This was Charlotte's first game without center Phil Jones, who was ruled academically ineligible last week. Even without the 6-foot-10 junior, the 49ers dominated the boards, outrebounding the Rams 18-7 in the first half and 41-24 for the game.
Still, Fordham — which has lost three straight to Charlotte — made it interesting.
The Rams fought back to take the lead twice in the second half, the last at 47-44 on a Gaston layup with 12:51 left, and tie the score twice, the last at 57-57 on Kervin Bristol's layup with 5:23 remaining.
But Green — who hit 7 of 9 from the field, including five 3-pointers — drilled a 3 with 4:42 left to put the 49ers ahead to stay. He added a second 3-pointer and two free throws during a 14-4 run to close out the game.
Fordham's biggest lead came in the opening minutes of the first half, with Butler and Alberto Estwick both draining 3-pointers to put the Rams up 6-0 after just 1:11 of play.
However, the 49ers rallied, swapping the lead four times and tying the score twice. Charlotte took its biggest lead, 33-29, on Briscoe's three-point play with 1:28 remaining before going out ahead 34-31 at the halftime break.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.