Shamarr Bowden scored 21 points and Charlotte's coach Bobby Lutz won his 200th career game in a 86-70 victory over North Carolina-Asheville in the teams' season opener Friday night. Phil Jones scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the 49ers, who outrebounded UNC-Asheville 53-35. Charlotte finished with 21 offensive rebounds. Chris Braswell had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the 49ers and DiJuan Harris added 14 points. Despite shooting 12-for-35 in the first half, Charlotte held a 13-point lead at halftime. UNC-Asheville opened the second half with a 19-8 run, cutting the lead to 49-48 on Quinard Jackson's layup with 13:01 remaining. But Bowden hit four straight 3-pointers to push Charlotte's margin to 10 points, giving them extra cushion to pull away. Chris Stephenson scored 22 points and J.P. Primm added 15 points for the Bulldogs.
