HONOLULU, Hawaii – A career-high 23 points and nine rebounds from Jaehshon Thomas set up Nik Graves’ potential game-tying three-pointer as Charlotte Men’s Basketball (7-6) stormed back from down 21 points before that final shot. Ultimately, the College of Charleston (10-3) walked away with an 84-81 victory over the 49ers on the final day of the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
“Fantastic effort, fight, and ability to execute down the stretch there,” said Charlotte Head Men’s Basketball Coach Aaron Fearne. “All you want to do is just give yourself a chance, but on the flip side of it too, you don’t want to put yourself in that position where you are in that situation. We lacked some discipline and concentration.”
Trailing 84-81 with 3.9 seconds left, Graves intentionally missed a free throw, secured his own offensive rebound, and then rose up for the right to send it in overtime. A day after Rosado forced overtime with a triple and the Niners won in double overtime, the drama could not be duplicated as Graves’ shot hit the front of the rim and bounced out as time expired.
Down eight with 58.8 seconds remaining, Thomas hit a three to cut the deficit to 76-71, and then Graves sank the triple to make it a one-possession, 81-78 game with 20.5 ticks left on the clock.
Thomas went eight-of-14 from the field and four-of-eight from deep to set a new personal best. Graves scored 12 of his 14 in the second half to help the Niners rally as they outscored the Cougars 50-38 in the period.
“It’s been awesome to play in this tournament, I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves,” said Coach Fearne. “I think the guys can look at each other and go, ‘Look, we can be pretty good if we could just clean up some stuff, be a little bit more disciplined, and be continuous.’ “
HOW IT HAPPENED
An underrated play in the final moments was Giancarlo Rosado grabbing the offensive rebound off a missed Charlotte three and finding Nika Metskhvarishvili for a dunk to cut the deficit to 82-80 with seven seconds remaining. The Cougars made both of their free throws to seemingly cement the win, but Graves nearly executed the four-point play to force overtime. Before the Graves’ triple that trimmed the lead to 81-78 with 21 seconds, the Cougars missed a free throw and lost the opportunity to extend their lead to seven.
Thomas exploded late in the second half, leading the 49ers’ comeback effort. He made three consecutive triples, whittling the Cougars’ lead from 72-61 to 76-71. Thomas’ third three-pointer of the half, which made it a five-point game, was aided by an assist from Graves and a strong Giancarlo Rosado screen that freed him on the perimeter.
Down 72-56 with 5:39 left, Thomas grabbed a loose rebound and pushed the ball ahead to Robert Braswell IV, who was fouled on the drive for an old-fashioned three-point play. On the next possession, Rosado followed up a missed Graves’ layup with a one-armed offensive rebound and scored. Then, Thomas drained the triple for the 8-0 run.
With 5:53 remaining in the first half, Charlotte was trailing by just two points with the score at 28-26. The Niners had just made four straight layups with Rolf scoring after an offensive rebound and Metskhvarishvili making a couple of beautiful passes to earn assists on baskets by Thomas and Kylan Blackmon. However, the Cougars responded with an 18-3 run to close out the first half and take a commanding 46-31 lead into the locker room.
After hitting five of their first six field goals to start the game, the 49ers made only one of their next 12 shots as the College of Charleston jumped out to a 22-16 lead with under nine minutes remaining. The lone Charlotte basket in the dry spell was Jaehshon Thomas bailing out of his layup and slinging a pass to Braswell for a three-pointer in the corner.
STAT FACTS
Charlotte was outrebounded 23-13 in the first half and surrendered 28 points in the paint and 12 second chance points in the period. In the second half, the Niners flipped those numbers, taking a 20-14 advantage in points in the paint and a 10-2 edge in second chance points. The 49ers also outrebounded the College of Charleston, 21-17, in the final stanza.
By scoring 12 points in the second half, Graves continued his streak of 13 straight games of 10-plus points this season. Graves also tied his career-high with five assists, and he added four boards and a steal.
Metskhvarishvili had his best game of the season, totaling season-highs of 11 points, three steals, two assists, and a block. He added four rebounds. Braswell IV had 10 points. Rosado finished with 12 points and nine boards off the bench.
For the sixth straight game, Graves, Braswell, Thomas, Metskhvarishvili, and Dean Reiber earned the start. Graves, Braswell, and Thomas have started all 13 games this season.
“We played three really good teams here [in the Diamond Head Classic] and played well against two of those three so that is a positive for me,” said Fearne of the 49ers’ sixth-place finish in the tournament.
UP NEXT
Charlotte opens American Athletic Conference play at home against Tulane on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Tip off is slated for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
