DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Shamari Spears finally got to walk out of Cameron Indoor Stadium as a winner.
Spears scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half of his debut with Charlotte, and the 49ers beat Elon 75-61 on Monday night in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off at the subregional hosted by Duke.
Spears came to Charlotte after two seasons at Boston College, where he lost both of his previous visits to one of college basketball's most hostile arenas by an average of 12 points.
This one was a little more manageable -- nearly all of those notorious Cameron Crazies left after No. 9 Duke beat Coastal Carolina in the opener.
"The crowd was a little bit different," Spears said. "I'm used to a packed house, but I'll take a win anytime."
Rashad Coleman added 11 points and Dijuan Harris had 10 for the 49ers (2-0), who shot 41 percent in advancing to a second-round matchup against the Blue Devils on Tuesday night.
"Now we play the big boys," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said.
Josh Bonney scored 15 points and Adam Constantine added 11 for the Phoenix (1-1), who were held to 23.7 percent shooting in the first half and didn't get to the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes. They will face the Chanticleers in a consolation game.
"We really didn't make shots, but the shots that we did take were within our system," Bonney said. "We'll stick to our system, and things will fall into place."
Charlotte only briefly trailed and gave itself plenty of breathing room with a 25-10 run that bridged halftime. Harris' dunk with 6 1/2 minutes to go before the break made it 20-14 and started the game-breaking spurt.
Derrio Green ended the run with a steal and layup that made it 43-24 with 18 minutes remaining, and though Elon cut it to 69-59 with 2:45 remaining, the 49ers' lead stayed in double figures the rest of the way.
"We're disappointed, but at the same time, I really felt like, for the entire game, our guys put forth good effort," first-year Elon coach Matt Matheny said. "We don't surrender, and we didn't surrender."
Spears finished 10-for-17 to help Lutz claim his 201st career victory. It came in a rare matchup between instate schools whose only previous meeting was a win by Elon in the 1970 NAIA playoffs.
