Published: 1:37 PM, 11/27/2009

Last updated: 1:40 PM, 11/27/2009

By: staff reports

From staff reports
MISENHIEMER -Pfeiffer rolled past Lees-McRae 124-65 in the Bobcats men's basketball Conference Carolinas opener Tuesday night.
Pfeiffer opened the game on a 19-0 run before Jeremy Helms hit a free throw and went on to score the first nine points and 13 first half 19 points.  Pfeiffer took a 56-19 lead into the half time.
The Falcons shot 59 percent from the floor and a whopping 70 percent from behind the 3-point arc, while the Bobcats were 25 percent from field goal and 37 percent from 3-point range.
Sixty of Pfeiffer's 124 points came from 3-point range.
In the second half, the Bobcats offense scored 46 points, but Pfeiffer responded with 68 points to win the game going away.
Lees-McRae improved to 59 percent in the second half from the floor and 62 percent from three, and Pfeiffer was 68 percent from the floor and 57 percent from three-point range in the half.
Sam Youse scored 16 points to lead the Bobcats, and Helms added 15 points. Josh Kurtz and Stephen Haymer collected four rebounds, and Daniel Sepokas had five assists.
Lees-McRae will travel to St. Andrews Dec 5 for its next game.
Pfeiffer 70, LM women 61
MISENHIEMER - Lees-McRae dropped its Conference Carolinas opener 70-61 Tuesday night to the.
Lees-McRae trailed 49-38 with 12:18 left in the game, but rallied to pull to within 55-54 after a Brittany Williams layup and a Jessica Blair field goal. But the Bobcats would never take the lead and Pfeiffer pulled away down the stretch.
Colette Montgomery led the Bobcats with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Icey Patterson added 11 points and nine assists, while Blair scored nine points. Lauren Casey pulled down eight rebounds.
Devonna Knight scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Pfeiffer, which shot just 37 percent from the field. Jamila Harris added 11 points.
Lees-McRae, which shot 39 percent from the field, held a brief 18-15 lead in the first half only to see the Falcons tie the game at 19-19 one minute later. Pfeiffer retook the lead and pushed it to 34-27 by halftime.
Two Patterson foul shots and a Montgomery layup closed that gap to 36-33, but once again, the Falcons regrouped and went on an 11-2 run to take a 49-38 lead.
The Bobcats will return to action Mondaywhen they host Milligan College at 6 p.m. in Williams Gymnasium.
Charlotte 80, Hofstra 72
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Freshman Chris Braswell converted a three-point play to open an 8-0 run with 12:37 to play that sent Charlotte to a seven-point lead and on their way to an important 80-72 victory at Hofstra.
The 49ers (4-1) trailed at the half but regained the lead on Braswell's three-point play, then weathered a Hofstra (3-3) rally down the stretch to pull out the victory. Junior forward Shamari Spears led the 49ers with 26 points, his fourth straight game of 20 or more points. Braswell added a 15-point; 11-rebound double-double and Derrio Green contributed 12 points for the 49ers.
"We went out and played uptempo and played together great as a team," Braswell said. "It's a great win. On the road, away from our crowd, this is a big win for us."
Braswell's double-double is the second of his young career.
He scored 13 points and had eight rebounds.
 in the decisive second half.
"In the second half I needed to step up my role," Braswell said. "The coaches told me I needed to hit the boards and to look for Shamari and play off Shamari. Coach says I can pass great - and I look for Shamari or Derrio in the corner."
After Charlotte extended the lead to as many as 10, 68-58, with 5:40 to play, Hofstra rallied back to within three, 71-68. An offensive board by Braswell and dish to a cutting RaShad Coleman made it a five-point game and after senior DiJuan Harris hit 3-of-4 free throws the lead was six with under a minute to play.
"We came out aggressively and in the second half we got the lead and extended it They came back at us but down the stretch we made the plays at both ends of the court that we needed to win," said 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz.
Spears was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He finished with 26, hitting 9-of-13 shots and 7-of-8 free throws.
"He just scores the ball," Lutz said. "And he's such an offensive threat that he opens things up. Chris took advantage of that. We can benefit from the focus teams put on Shamari and today Chris did. He didn't play like a freshman today. Yesterday he did but Phil had a big game. Today Phil was in foul trouble and Chris came through. That's what's great about our depth. But he played like a veteran today."
RaShad Coleman gave the 49ers a lift with nine points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Charlotte improves to 4-1 for the first time since 2000-01, when they started 6-1 on their way to the NCAA Tournament. The 49ers return home after going 3-1 on the road in the NIT Season Tip-Off to host East Carolina Dec. 2.

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