WKU Basketball: Three Pointers Fall as Tops Slash Charlotte, 68–50
Following their big win over Wisconsin this past Saturday, Western Kentucky opened Conference USA play with a 68–50 win over the Charlotte 49ers.
A slow start saw the Tops start off shooting a dismal 1-for-7 from behind the arc, which allowed the 49ers to keep things close for the first 10 minutes of the half.
Entering the under 12 media timeout, WKU had held the three-win team scoreless for almost five minutes, but somehow only led by three points.
Charlotte senior Jon Davis broke the scoreless streak and in turn caught fire. He nailed a three pointer at the end of the shot clock that gave the 49ers a 17–15 lead.
From that point, the Tops caught fire from three with Jake Ohmer and Jared Savage having a pair each and even Charles Bassey hit one in transition to give Western the lead for good.
Davis kept the game close as he finished with 18 first half points, but the Tops took a 34–25 lead into the locker room.
Western Kentucky picked up immediately where they left off by starting the second half on a 14–4 run to all but put Charlotte out of reach. During the run, Savage and Banton each had four points, with Savage adding his third three pointer of the game.
Out of the timeout, Jake Ohmer, who entered the game with only three points on the season, hit two more three pointers for a total of four on the game and gave the Tops a commanding lead.
With a big conference game coming up on Saturday, Rick Stansbury used the 20 point lead to rest most of his starters as players like Moustapha Diagne, Jeremiah Gambrell, Matthew Horton, Tolu Smith and Ohmer all saw quality minutes down the stretch.
During that time, Gambrell and Diagne each joined the three point party which helped the Tops finish with a total of 12.
Charlotte brought the game to within 17 at one point, but Western Kentucky was too much as they won by a score of 68 to 50.
With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 8–6 on the season and 1–0 in conference play. They will travel to Norfolk on Saturday for a date with Old Dominion, who saw a heartbreaking loss to Marshall earlier on Thursday night.
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