Backed by a career-high scoring output from sophomore Aly Khalifa's and a stout defensive effort in the extra period, the Charlotte men's basketball team pulled off a close victory over Western Kentucky, 68-64, in overtime Thursday night at Halton Arena.
With the victory, Charlotte (15-11, 6-9 C-USA) completes its first regular season sweep of WKU since 1988-89, while the Hilltoppers (14-12, 6-9 C-USA) see their three-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
On the offensive end, CLT drained a season-high 14 three's, while limiting WKU to just 32 percent shooting as a team from behind the arc and forcing the Hilltoppers into 15 turnovers.
Three 49ers finished the night in double-figures, with Khalifa leading the way with a career-high 24 points, including an additional career best six 3-pointers. The Egyptian center also added his best rebounding night since Jan. 19 vs. Middle Tennessee with eight in Thursday's victory.
Senior Montre' Gipson finished his evening with 11 points, including a trio of makes from 3-point land, while also reeling in seven rebounds, including a pair on the offensive glass.
Sophomore Isaiah Folkes—who made his first career start on Thursday—finished in double figures for the second time in his career, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting with a pair of 3-point buckets
Despite scoring just eight points, junior Brice Williams was huge on the glass, reeling in a team-best nine rebounds that included seven on the defensive glass to solidify a number of key 49er stops throughout the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The sides went bucket-for-bucket for the vast majority of the opening half, with the largest lead for either side being just five points across the night's first 17 minutes.
With the score tied at 28-all, the Niners used a seven-point burst in the final two minutes seeing a pair of buckets from sophomore Lu'Cye Patterson and a last-minute 3-point basket from Williams to head to the locker room, up 35-28.
Immediately out of the break, the 49ers stretched their lead to 10 points with 15 minutes to play and maintained a near double-figure lead for a majority of the frame.
Across the final five minutes of regulation, WKU slowly chipped away at the CLT lead, before erasing an eight-point deficit to even things at 62-62 when the clock showed triple zeros.
In the overtime period, WKU struck first on a driving layup from Dayvion McKnight, and after being held scoreless for a period of over seven minutes, Khalifa drained a pair of Halton-lifting 3-point baskets with time expiring on the shot clock to lift CLT past WKU for a four-point home dub.
ALY, ALY, ALY, ALY
The Egyptian magician—or nightmare, or prince or whatever you may want to call him—has scored 38 points in his last to games, averaging 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 47 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point land.
NEW FACES IN THE FIRST FIVE
Thursday marked Charlotte's first change to the starting five not because of illness or injury this season, while also marking the first time CLT earned a win without starting the usuals of Montre' Gipson, Lu'Cye Patterson, Jackson Threadgill, Igor Milicic Jr. and Aly Khalifa.
Isaiah Folkes earned his first start since joining the Green & White in January of 2021, while C-USA Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Brice Williams started for just the third time this season and for the third consecutive home tilt.
UP NEXT
Charlotte will make a quick turnaround this weekend when it travels south to take on Louisiana Tech in Ruston on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff from the Thomas Assembly Center is slated for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
