Winning a rivalry game at home ‘feels a little more special’

TIM COWIE | DAVIDSON ATHLETICS

The Davidson Wildcats hoist the Hornets' Nest trophy after beating the Charlotte 49ers 75-71 Dec. 10 at Belk Arena. The win was Davidson's (7-2) second straight in the series while Charlotte fell to 4-4.

DAVIDSON – The energy is palpable when Davidson and Charlotte meet in basketball.

No matter the venue – the 49ers’ Halton Arena or the Wildcats’ Belk Arena – fans are loud and proud to represent their team. In a game that saw Charlotte lead by 12 and Davidson by 14, the Wildcats (7-2) edged out a 75-71 win against the 49ers (4-4) to retain the Hornets’ Nest trophy and keep bragging rights for another year over their cross-county rival.

“We talk to our players about the importance of [the game],” Davidson coach Matt McKillop said. “We’ve got five members of our coaching staff who have been here long enough to have played in a Hornets’ Nest trophy game. … We had some alums come in the locker room after the win we had [last] Friday night to hold the trophy that we had in the locker room and let [players] know how much this meant to us. So, it’s a great win and this is special.”

After Charlotte took a double-digit lead, McKillop switched things up defensively to take the 49ers out of rhythm that led to shooting over 60% in the first half.

“I felt that we couldn’t get a stop for what felt like the first eight minutes of the game,” McKillop said. “They got up double digits. We were following the game plan, but they were getting by us. They were getting open threes from guys who maybe aren’t the highest three-point percentage shooters, but they were making them. [Jaeshon] Thomas made some threes, [Nik] Graves making threes. Graves can hit threes, but his best game is getting to the rim. He was doing both to us. Our 1-3-1 [defense] gave us life. It forced turnovers. Not that it’s a turnover-forcing defense but the confusion that it causes with our length allowed us to get going.”

The Wildcats’ 6-10 forward Reed Bailey finished with 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Davidson. Bailey, who is 2-1 in Hornets’ Nest games, talked about how good it felt winning at home after losing to Charlotte as a freshman.

“Last year we won it at their place,” he said. “When you hold up that trophy in front of their fans, it’s a good feeling. But, when you hold it up with everyone else clapping for you and cheering for you, that’s another experience that you really can’t recreate.”

Bailey said he thought it was beneficial for the Wildcats to lose at the buzzer in 2022 the way they did because it left a bad taste that they didn’t want to repeat.

“I've been a part of it for three years,” he said, “and in my freshman year it was a heartbreaker. They hit that game-winning three at the end. And you know, when you look back on it, you're kind of happy you went through that… and we’re lucky to have won [the Hornets’ Nest trophy] the past two years, and hopefully we win it a third year next year.”

McKillop echoed his junior forward on how this win felt different.

“It’s like if you win a World Series or an NBA championship and you have to do it on the road,” McKillop said, “it just doesn’t have as cool a feel to it. Not that I was thinking this at the moment, but Reed mentioned it. Being able to do this with all of our fans there and hold [the trophy] up on the court like that, on that Davidson logo, seeing your friends and families there, that makes it a little more special.”

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