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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Curtis Withers scored a career-high 39 points to lead Charlotte to an 83-78 overtime win over Saint Louis Saturday night.
Withers finished 13-of-25 from the floor and made 11 of his 13 free-throw attempts.
The win was the first for Charlotte in nine tries in St. Louis. The 49ers (17-4, 8-2) have won five of their last six and moved to within one-half game of first place in Conference USA.
Saint Louis (6-17,4-7), was led by Anthony Drejaj with 17 points.
Eddie Basden had one steal to break the all-time Charlotte record for steals. Basden now has 237, one more than Keith Williams, who played from 1983-87.
Charlotte led by just two at the half and had a hard time shaking the Billikens. SLU, which trailed by as much as nine in the second half, finally caught up with two seconds remaining on a 3-pointer from the left wing by Danny Brown that sent the game to overtime tied at 70-70.
The 49ers managed to outscore Saint Louis in overtime without making a field goal until less than one second remained. Charlotte went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the extra session, but did not ice the game until Withers slammed it home off a fast break with one-half second remaining for the final margin.
Withers has scored 15 or more points in each of his last six games. He surpassed that by halftime Saturday, as his 17 first-half points helped Charlotte take a 35-33 lead into the break.
The Billikens got off to a fast start and led 19-15 at the 10-minute mark. But Charlotte used its defense to key a 10-0 run that put the 49ers in control. Withers capped the run with a fast-break dunk off a steal that made it 25-19 with 6:11 left in the half.
That play helped get Withers warmed up. He scored eight of Charlotte's last 10 points of the half, but Saint Louis still managed to cut the lead to two on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Drejaj.
