Charlotte, NC – The journey of the 2021-2022 season began Tuesday night when Charlotte welcomed Monmouth University (West Long Branch, NJ) to Halton Arena. Just over 3,000 fans watched the Niners defeat the Hawks in thrilling fashion, 68-66. In a game in which Charlotte never trailed, the team overcame a furious comeback from the Hawks who nearly stole the game late. Monmouth guard George Papas missed an elbow three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game and Charlotte narrowly escaped with a big win to start the season.
Led by Clyde Trapp Jr. who finished with a team-high 20 points, the Niners jumped out to an early 25-12 lead before closing out the first half up by nine, 32-23. Monmouth shot a woeful 1-8 from the three-point arc and was held to just seven points in transition in the first half. That’s when things got interesting.
Monmouth head coach King Rice made some obvious second half adjustments as fans watched the Hawks shoot over 48% from the field after a seemingly cold first half. Charlotte struggled to stop Monmouth inside. UNC transfer Walker Miller went to work in the post and scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half as the Niners faced its first bit of adversity of the year. Despite an unusual 4-17 shooting night, All-Conference guard Jahmir Young finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, notching the team’s final six points which helped seal the victory in Charlotte.
While local fans may not be familiar with Monmouth, which plays in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Sanchez knew the problems his team would face against them. “Monmouth plays very fast. I knew that was a good team. They have ACC and Big East conference transfers. We challenged one another and both of us got better tonight. We want to have the best teams in March and we wanted to test ourselves early in the year.”
In a game which Charlotte lead by as many as 15 points in the second half, Head Coach Ron Sanchez knows there’s still some work to do as the season progresses. “You only grow through adversity and you have to be in situations like this as often as possible. There’s a lot to learn from this film. We’ll watch the film, we’ll learn and keep getting better. It’s the first game of the year and we will continue to grow,” said Sanchez.
What’s next? The Niners will return to action this Friday for a home contest with Big South foe, USC Upstate in a game slated for a 7pm start.
