CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Gerald Wallace scored 26 points, Jason Richardson had 24, and the Charlotte Bobcats held off an early fourth-quarter rally to beat the Miami Heat 94-82 on Saturday night and snap a five-game losing streak.

Nazr Mohammed added 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Raymond Felton had 10 assists for the Bobcats, who saw a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter trimmed to three points early in the fourth.

Jason Williams scored 19 points, Ricky Davis had 15 and Chris Quinn 14 for the injury-riddled Heat, who dressed just nine players in losing their third straight and 11th in 13 games in March.

Miami assistant Ron Rothstein led the team for the second consecutive game in place of coach Pat Riley, who is scouting prospective draft picks at this week’s NCAA tournament. Riley is expected to be back with the team when it plays at Milwaukee on Monday.

Ahead by seven points entering the second half, Charlotte opened the third quarter with a 10-3 run, with Emeka Okafor’s layup with 7:42 left putting the Bobcats up 56-42. Miami – missing starters Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Alexander Johnson and Dorell Wright to injuries – fought back, with back-to-back layups by Williams cutting Charlotte’s lead to 73-70 with 9:49 left in the fourth quarter.

But Mohammed hit a hook shot, Wallace dropped in a layup and Richardson made a three-point play and a pair of 3-pointers during a 21-8 run that put the Bobcats up 94-78 with 4:30 remaining.

Matt Carroll nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to open the second quarter and put the Bobcats up 19-17 – their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. But Quinn followed with a jumper 44 seconds later to tie the score, setting off a run that saw the sides swap the lead three times and tie the score six others.

Charlotte finally went ahead to stay late in the second quarter on Richardson’s three-point play with 1:16 left. He followed that with a pair of free throws, and Okafor hit a jumper with 30 seconds remaining to give the Bobcats a 46-39 lead at the break.

Notes: Charlotte won three of four games against Miami this season. However, the Heat still lead the all-time series, 10-7. … Miami signed forward Stephane Lasme and guard Blake Ahearn to 10-day contracts Friday, and opted to not resign 6-7 forward Bobby Jones to a second 10-day contract. The Heat also called up forward Kasib Powell from Sioux Falls of the NBA Development League on Saturday.

AP-ES-03-22-08 2140EDT