CHARLOTTE — A late surge wasn't enough for Charlotte Men's Basketball on Tuesday.
The 49ers ceded the Battle for the Hornets' Nest to visiting Davidson at Halton Arena, 62-55, for their first loss of the season after opening the three-game home stand with back-to-back wins.
It marked Charlotte's third consecutive loss in the longtime rivalry.
Separate runs — one a 9-2 spurt from Charlotte and the second an 11-3 streak to pull within two points — set up the hosts for a possible comeback. Damoni Harrison's 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, his third make from deep in the final six minutes, cut the deficit to 57-55.
Davidson's Hunter Adam followed suit with his own make from outside 10 seconds later to pull the Wildcats away for good. He entered Tuesday's rivalry game shooting 61.5% from 3-point range before hitting four of his six attempts against the 49ers. His subsequent layup with seven seconds left sealed it.
"It was actually a little bit like last year," head coach Aaron Fearne said. "It was, I think, a two- or three-point game, and we pressed them — they kicked out to the corner and knocked down a three that sealed the deal for them. [Hunter Adam] is playing unbelievable hoops right now."
A cold first half necessitated the comeback effort.
Charlotte opened the game 1-for-10 from outside compared with a 6-for-14 mark for Davidson.
Even so, Anton Bonke's dunk in the final seconds of the half cut the deficit to 29-19. He finished with a career-high 13 points in the loss.
Jarne Elouna Eyenga stayed patient, hitting a layup out of the break after a pair of Davidson defenders flew past him. Bradford added a layup of his own soon after, but the makes were sandwiched within a 12-4 Wildcat run that pushed the margin to 41-23.
Bonke's jumper and layup, along with Major Freeman's second 3-pointer of the game, sparked a 7-0 run from Charlotte to trim the lead back.
As shots began to fall, free throws didn't. Charlotte missed eight of its 15 attempts from the line in the second half, including two of its last three. The 49ers went 11 for 20 from the free-throw line overall.
"Credit to them, I thought they really caused some disruption early on defensively, and they shot the ball unbelievably well," Fearne said. "It put our backs against the wall. We started to find a way to make some shots and get some penetration, which opened things up.
"But we hurt ourselves by not making free throws, which could have given us the chance to get across the line."
Golden Outputs
Bonke had a career-high 13 points in the loss. He tied his career mark with four blocks for the second straight game, bringing his season total to nine. The big man added 14 rebounds, matching his career high set against Indiana State in Charlotte's opener.
Harrison had 13 points in 12 minutes, his highest mark so far in Green and White.
Bradford reached double figures for the third consecutive game to start the season. His 13 points last season represented the only such instance, but the sophomore's average sits at 17 per game through Charlotte's first three contests.
Up Next
Charlotte hits the road for the first time as it heads to Virginia Tech on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip. The 49ers last faced the Hokies on Dec. 4, 1999, as part of the two programs' 14 overall meetings.