Brian Tedder, CollegianATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – With a dismal first-half shooting performance against Massachusetts last night in the second-round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Leemire Goldwire’s Charlotte teammates would have been justified to stay clear of him.
The senior guard scored just five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor, helping dig the 49ers into a 17-point hole entering intermission.
But after the second half ended, Charlotte’s Lamont Mack wanted to sit right next to his senior leader, and rubbed his teammate’s head to show support.
Mack and the rest of the 49ers hoped the head rubbing would translate into good luck as Charlotte stunned UMass in a thrilling comeback victory, 69-65, last night at Boardwalk Hall to advance to the A-10 Tournament semifinals against Temple tomorrow night.
For the second consecutive season, the Minutemen (21-10, 10-7 A-10) will likely play their next game in the NIT after an early A-10 tourney exit – rather than in the NCAA Tournament, which UMass has not been a part of since 1998.
The Minutemen will forever have Goldwire’s 19-point second-half outburst and shooting clinic from 3-point range to blame if they don’t receive an at-large bid into the Big Dance.
No shot will stick in UMass’s collective mind more than the one Goldwire hit with 20 seconds remaining.
“As the clock went on [Charlotte] coach [Bobby] Lutz was like, ‘shoot it, shoot it; just pull up.’ That’s what I did,” Goldwire said after the game.
“That’s great coaching,” Lutz joked afterwards.
With the shot clock ticking down, Goldwire dribbled alone at the top of the key, while UMass’s Tony Gaffney stood about five feet in front of him, giving Goldwire the necessary space to shoot. Almost everyone knew he was going to take the shot, but by the time Gaffney could get a hand in his face, the shot already went down – giving the 49ers a two-possession lead with not enough time for UMass.
“The plays he made in the game were unbelievable and everybody in the building knew he was going to shoot it and he still did it
