HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss never trailed and led by as many as 30 points in the final minutes of a 72-54 win over Charlotte on Saturday.

Cortez Edwards had 12 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and ninth of his career as Southern Miss beat Charlotte for the first time in their last 17 meetings. USM won in 2014, but that win was later vacated because of NCAA sanctions.

In the process, Southern Miss (13-13, 6-7 Conference USA) matched its most league wins of Doc Sadler’s four years as coach.

Southern Miss opened up a 13-2 lead at the start that eventually went to 22-7 on Tyree Griffin’s three-pointer at the 6:11 mark. The 49ers closed to within 24-20 late in the half on a 10-0 run, but the Golden Eagles scored the final points via a Griffin layup to lead 30-24 at the break.

“I was concerned a little bit at halftime because we got off to such a great start offensively, and Charlotte had started to make some shots,” Sadler said. “Charlotte plays everyone close, and we let them get 10 points in a row before the half. When everything’s going good for you offensively, that’s when your defense needs to pick it up.”

Charlotte (5-18, 1-11 C-USA) had pulled to within 30-27 before former Vicksburg High star D’Angelo Richardson put together a four-point play in front of his bench, catapulting a 14-2 run that erased all doubt for the game.

Richardson finished with 17 points in 10 minutes of playing time off the bench.

“D’Angelo made that huge play, then Cortez Edwards makes a big play on an inbounds pass and had back-to-back offensive rebounds,” Sadler said. “We aren’t shooting the ball as well as we had earlier, and maybe we are getting tired, but 19 assists to seven turnovers is great. Overall, I thought Thursday’s first half was as good as we could play defensively and it was the same way in the second half today.”