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University of Houston
Charlotte
Cougars Fall, 59-55, In Overtime At Charlotte
2/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Damon Brown hit two three-point field goals from the left wing and Chris Sager made two free throws to give Charlotte a 59-55 overtime victory over Houston in a Conference USA game on Wednesday night.
Brown's first trey from the left wing came after Louis Truscott hit a lay-up to give the Cougars a 53-51 lead. Truscott put Houston up 55-54 with 3:19 left in the overtime when he tipped in Jeremy McGuire's missed jumper.
Brown came right back on Charlotte's next possession to put the 49ers up for good, 57-55 when he hit another trey from the left wing.
Neither team could score again until four seconds remained and Andre Owens was forced to foul Sager. Sager made both of his free throws to put the game out of reach and hand Houston the loss.
"We really hustled and played hard to get back into the game," Houston head coach Ray McCallum said. "We had dug ourselves into such a hole in the first half, but we came out and competed in the second half and was able to force the game into overtime."
The Cougars fought back from a 31-18 deficit at halftime as the 49ers opened the game forcing 15 turnovers and grabbing 14 offensive rebounds in the first half.
"Our first half really determined the outcome," McCallum said. "But, Louis Truscott got going after he had five turnovers in the first half. Andre Owens also was rebounding the ball well for us."
Truscott scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and Owens finished with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. The Cougars also held Charlotte to 25 percent shooting from the field and Owens grabbed nine of his rebounds in the second half."
Although the second half opened much the same way the first period ended as Charlotte's Curtis Withers scored a three-point play off a lay-up and free throw after being fouled following an offensive rebound.
After making two free throws on Houston's next possession, Owens fouled Don Reed off another offensive rebound. Reed made both of his free throws to extend the 49ers lead to 36-20.
But Houston closed back to 37-31 with an 11-1 run as Jarrett Sidney slammed home a miss by Bryan Shelton and Truscott hit a lay-up off a missed three-point shot by Sidney. Then, Owens hit Jeremee McGuire for a jumper from the top of the key and hit a three-pointer from just left of the top of the key.
Houston's comeback continued and the Cougars tied the score at 49-49 with 2:23 left to play when Owens threw a pass the length of the floor to Truscott. Truscott hit a lay up and hit his free throw after being fouled by Reed.
Truscott hit another two free throws after he stole the ball from Charlotte's Eddie Badsen to give the Cougars a 51-49 lead with 1:26 left to play.
On Charlotte's next possession Vincent Grier tied the score when he hit a jumper in the middle of the lane off an offensive rebound with 1:24 left in regulation.
The two teams didn't score the rest of the second half to send the game into overtime.
The Cougars fall to 6-14 overall and 4-5 in Conference USA play, while Charlotte snapped a three-game losing streak and improve its overall record to 9-12 and 4-5 in C-USA standings.
Houston travels to Tampa, Fla., to play its second straight C-USA road game against South Florida on Saturday, February 15. The game tips off at noon.
