ESPN Men's Basketball

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- At the start of the season, Charlotte was picked to finish 10th in the 14-team Atlantic 10.

But the 49ers find themselves atop the A-10 standings after beating Saint Joseph's 70-66 on Wednesday night.

Leemire Goldwire scored a career-high 36 points and Lamont Mack added 12 for Charlotte (11-5, 2-0), which held off a second-half Hawks rally to win its third straight.

But the 49ers had a little help in taking over the conference lead -- No. 14 Dayton, No. 20 Xavier and George Washington all lost Wednesday.

"It's great to be 2-0, but we've got 14 more games to play," Goldwire said. "It means something, but it's also still early."

The 49ers led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but saw Saint Joseph's (9-5, 2-1) fight back to make a game of it late in the period.

Pat Calathes scored 19 points, Garrett Williamson 12 and Darrin Govens 11 for the Hawks, who trailed 57-43 with 12:41 remaining in the second half.

However, Saint Joseph's went on an 18-4 run, tying the score at 61-61 on a Williamson layup with 3:47 left. The Hawks then led twice, the last at 64-63 on a pair of Williamson free throws with 1:29 left.

"We had things rolling ... but I don't know what happened," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "We stopped attacking and they started attacking."

But Goldwire hit a 3-pointer 15 seconds later to put the 49ers up 66-64, and the 49ers closed out the game by hitting 4-of-6 free throws over the final minute to improve to 8-0 in games at Halton Arena.

"We were getting stops on defense and keeping them off the glass," Williamson said. "But we lost it there somehow. We had a chance to win the game, but we didn't close it out."

The Hawks played without starting point guard Tasheed Carr, the Atlantic 10's assists leader. Carr sprained his right ankle during practice Monday, and did not make the trip.

Despite Carr's absence, Saint Joseph's led by six points three times in the opening minutes of the first half, the last at 20-14 on Ahmad Nivins' dunk with 10:15 left.

But Goldwire scored 13 points during a 15-4 run -- including 10 points over a 70-second span -- that put Charlotte ahead en route to a 39-34 lead at the break.

Goldwire nailed a 3-pointer under pressure with 5:58 left to give the 49ers a 26-24 lead, then capped an 18-point first half with a 3-pointer to give the 49ers a 39-32 margin with 1:50 remaining, their biggest lead of the half.

"I said from the get-go that ... it wouldn't surprise me if the teams that were picked eighth and ninth were at the top," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. "I've never seen this league this bunched.

"That's the way it's going to be in this league -- you have to defend your home court, and you've got to steal road wins. This is something special, and people are going to enjoy what they see over the next few months."