Senior Selton Miguel attempts a floater over the 49ers defender.
Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest
By Jorden Pompey
The University of South Florida Bulls led the game for only 29 seconds to defeat the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers 72-69 after overcoming a 17-point deficit at the Yuengling Center on Feb. 6. The Bulls improve to 16-5 on the season.
USF now holds the top spot in the American Athletic Conference with a 9-1 record in conference play.
Charlotte came out on a 12-3 run in the first four minutes of the game.
After falling behind 17 points, USF went on a 14-2 run produced by sophomore guard Kobe Knox, senior guards Sam Hines Jr. and Selton Miguel to bring the deficit to five points.
“Selton has been the model of consistency and he’s what I want in a player, like any player we recruit. Anything you ask him to do, he does. At some point, I’m going to get on a plane and go over to Angola and hug his mom and dad, ’cause they did a great job of raising him,” Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said in the post-game conference.
Heading into the tunnels at half, Charlotte increased the lead to 10 points.
USF would bring the deficit back to five again, but the 49ers responded with a 12-2 run.
With four minutes left, USF freshman Jayden Reid and senior Chris Youngblood sank back-to-back jump shots, closing the gap within two points. Following a Niners free throw, Reid made a clutch steal and layup to be down by one.
Lead scorer Selton dished his fifth assist to Stroud to take the lead by one with 29 seconds left.
With an attendance of 6,156, the Yuengling Center vibrated with the student’s excitement and energy.
USF looks to make history by pushing their winning streak to nine against Rice University in Houston, Texas on Feb. 10.
“I’m focused on finishing the job. It does make me happy to see that our fans are happy. I want to win big and I’ll reflect at some point when the season’s over,” Abdur-Rahim said in the post-game conference.
