Hornets’ Nest stays with Charlotte. 49ers basketball team tops rival Davidson again

Ron Sanchez says his team’s defense is ahead of its offense.

His Charlotte 49ers showed Tuesday night that their defense ahead of Davidson’s explosive offense, too.

Charlotte shut down the Wildcats’ attack, holding Davidson to 36% field-goal shooting and retaining the Hornets’ Nest Trophy with a 63-52 victory.

“Their defense was superb, and they beat us in every aspect of the game,” Wildcats’ coach Bob McKillop said, after his team lost the Mecklenburg County rivalry game for the second straight year.

“We finished it out,” Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez said. “That’s been our Achilles heel, but tonight we were more disciplined and made better decisions.”

Davidson’s senior standout, Kellan Grady, scored a game-high 23 points. But the 49ers held the rest of the Wildcats in check. Grady made 9-of-16 from the floor. The rest of the team hit only 8 of 33 shots.

Meanwhile, Charlotte did enough offensively to win. The 49ers shot 44% from the floor and piled up a 12-point edge over Davidson at the foul line.

Davidson entered Tuesday’s game having shot better than 50% from the floor on the season while Charlotte had shot about 43% in its opening four games.

But the 49ers (2-3) kept the Wildcats (3-3) on their heels and did enough offensively to win.

“Taking care of the ball was something we’ve worked on,” said Charlotte guard Jordan Shepherd, who scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, said. “We did that tonight.”

Hurt by turnovers in their first four games, the 49ers had only eight Tuesday night.

And every time Davidson threatened, the 49ers held tight.

“We had a spot where things weren’t going well,” Sanchez said. “We’ve been working on how to deal with those situations. I thought we reacted well.”

The Wildcats broke to a 6-2 lead, but Charlotte went on an 8-0 run and held its lead for the rest of the game. A three-point play by Milos Supica with 9:45 left in the first half gave the 49ers their biggest lead, at 20-11.

Davidson’s shooting improved early in the second half, but Charlotte maintained a lead of 3 to 8 points into the closing minutes. Jhery Matos grabbed a rebound and scored on an off-balance layup with 14:16 left, giving the 49ers a 45-37 lead.

Davidson closed to within three points several times but got no closer.

In the final minutes, the 49ers opened the lead by connecting on free throws.

“We missed several 3-pointers early, and it affected us both on offense and defense,” McKillop said. “We didn’t react well.”

AND ONE

Jahmir Young and Jordan Shepherd each had big games for the 49ers. Young led the team with 18 points, Shepherd had 16, and each had a team-high seven rebounds.

PERSONAL FOUL

The 47th installment of this Mecklenburg County rivalry wasn’t the same without a crowd. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, about 20 to 25 fans were inside the arena. In a normal year, Belk Arena would have been packed Tuesday night.

ICYMI

▪ The inside of Belk Arena during the COVID era looks a lot different than before the pandemic began. Both teams sit on the opposite side than in the past. Media row has been moved off the floor, allowing room for the Wildcats and the visiting team to be socially distanced.

▪ The women’s version of the Battle of the Hornets’ Nest Trophy never happened Tuesday night. The two teams announced about four hours before tip-off that the contest had been called off due to COVID-19 contact tracing. It was not clear which team was affected by the contact tracing.

▪ In what was probably a first in the Charlotte-Davidson series, each team had a center from New Zealand on the floor at various times in the game — 49ers’ sophomore reserve Anzac Rissetto and Wildcat freshman starter Sam Mennenga.

▪ Davidson’s next game is Friday, when the Wildcats open Atlantic 10 play on the road against Rhode Island. The Wildcats return home next Tuesday against SEC power Vanderbilt.

Charlotte is home Saturday afternoon against N.C. A&T, then visits George Washington next Tuesday night.

MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS

12: Charlotte’s edge over Davidson in successful free throws. The 49ers hit 21-of-25. Davidson made 9-of-10.

8: Number of turnovers by Charlotte - its lowest total of the season. Davidson had 14.

2½ : Minutes that Davidson led in the game. Charlotte’s early surge put them ahead, and they never relinquished the lead.

This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 9:06 PM.