Charlotte 74, Fordham 60

1/26/2008 8:29 PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Lamont Mack scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to help Charlotte rally past Fordham 74-60 on Saturday night.

Leemire Goldwire added 14 points and Charlie Coley scored 10 for the 49ers (13-6, 4-1 Atlantic-10), who moved into a tie with Xavier atop the league standings.

Brenton Butner scored 18 points, Marcus Stout had 15 and Sebastian Greene finished 12 for the Rams (8-9, 2-3), whose two-game winning streak was snapped.

Down two points to begin the second half, Mack hit a free throw and 3-pointer to put Charlotte up 34-31 with 18:35 left - its first lead since the opening minutes of the first half.

Fordham fought back to tie the score four times in the half, the last at 44-all on Butler's 3-pointer with 14:10 left.

But Mack - who scored only two points in the first half on 1-of-7 shooting - followed with back-to-back 3-pointers, igniting a 17-0 run that put Charlotte in command.

Goldwire gave the 49ers their biggest lead of the game, hitting a pair of free throws with 3:06 remaining to make it 70-49.

After battling through 11 lead changes and six ties in the first 13 minutes, Fordham broke loose on an 11-3 run. Greene kicked off the run with a reverse layup, and his dunk with 3:34 left put the Rams up 30-22.

But Goldwire, who was held scoreless for more than 15 minutes, hit a pair of 3-pointers - the last a fadeaway from the corner at the buzzer - to pull Charlotte within 32-30 at the break.