BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Charlotte (17-17) saw its American Conference Tournament run come to a close, falling to top seed and regular-season champion South Florida 86-64 on Saturday afternoon at Legacy Arena at the BJCC. The Niners battled throughout and had the game within one possession midway through the second half before running out of gas in their third game in three days.

South Florida broke a tight game open with a 15-1 second-half surge and used a significant advantage from beyond the arc to advance to Sunday’s title game. Bulls guards Joseph Pinion and Wes Enis combined for 48 points and shot 6-of-7 from long range to lead the top seed. South Florida finished 12-for-29 from beyond the arc, while Charlotte shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from distance.

Anton Bonke paced the 49ers with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Ben Bradford (12) and Damoni Harrison (11) also finished in double figures.

HOW IT HAPPENED

South Florida jumped out to a 9-2 lead as both teams struggled from the field in the opening seven minutes. Dezayne Mingo’s driving finish off a long offensive rebound started a string of three consecutive makes as the Niners trimmed the margin to 11-8 with 11:47 remaining in the half.

The two teams combined to shoot just 24.3 percent (9-of-37) from the field in the opening 10 minutes. The Niners snapped a string of five consecutive misses and cut the deficit to one on a tip dunk by Bonke at the 7:37 mark.

Charlotte stayed connected despite the slow shooting start by getting to the foul line frequently in the first half. Arden Conyers converted a pair from the stripe with six minutes left to pull the 49ers within two at 23-21.

South Florida hit threes on three consecutive possessions late in the half to grab its first double-digit lead. Bradford snapped a string of 11 consecutive missed threes by Charlotte to cut into the deficit, and the defense tightened late in the half.

The Niners forced three South Florida turnovers in the final 2:06 before the break.

The Bulls got a driving finish from Gavin Hightower just before the horn to take a 40-33 lead into intermission. Charlotte limited the top-seeded Bulls to 36.8 percent (14-of-38) shooting from the field, but South Florida used a 6-of-15 (.400) effort from long range to pull ahead.

South Florida came out of intermission firing with three early threes, but the Niners stayed within reach with threes from Conyers and Bradford to enter the under-16 media timeout trailing 49-41.

Charlotte’s defense tightened to hold South Florida scoreless for 4:23 as the Niners trimmed the margin to four points on a Bonke putback and a pair of free throws from Spencer Elliott with 13:06 remaining. Harrison added a baseline jumper and a putback in the lane in a span of 16 seconds to make it a one-possession game.

South Florida quickly stretched the lead back to eight points with a three-point play and its 11th three-pointer of the day. The Bulls extended the run to 15-1 to push the margin to 67-50 and force a Charlotte timeout with 7:50 remaining.

The 49ers would get no closer than 14 points as they closed the season 17-17 overall.

GETTING TO THE LINE IN THE FIRST

Charlotte went 13-of-18 (.722) from the foul line in the first half to stay within reach despite another cold shooting effort. The Niners were just 9-of-30 (.300) from the field, including 2-of-15 (.133) from three-point range, before the break.