DTH defeats Duke's Chronicle 2-1 in Rivalry Challenge basketball series
Daily Tar Heel Assistant City & State Editor Ethan Horton shoots the ball during the rivalry basketball game against The Duke Chronicle in Rams Head Recreation Center on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. DTH beat The Chronicle 2-1.
The UNC-Duke rivalry hasn’t been the same in three years.
Since 2020, The Daily Tar Heel and The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, have been unable to take to the court to compete in the Battle of the Blues: Newspaper Edition — a basketball game that holds both schools hostage. Doubts rose over which newsroom had the purest-hooping sports desk.
The two newsrooms came together to restart the annual tradition of a pickup game between the two sides to increase awareness for their Rivalry Challenge — an eight-day fundraising campaign to raise money for their newsrooms.
On Jan. 20, UNC shut them down definitively, winning 2-1 in a three-game thriller in Chapel Hill.
In the weeks leading up to the game, DTH players were lulled into a false sense of complacency. After three years without facing each other, the DTH was unsure of what to expect from The Chronicle.
So when they entered the Rams Head Recreation Center, the DTH team was shocked to find a swarm of people — at least 25 deep — dressed in dark blue, drilling layup lines before the game.
Despite being outnumbered on their own stomping grounds, DTH sophomore senior writer Evan Rogers said the extra support didn’t bother him.
“It was honestly cool, I didn’t mind them having a lot of bodies,” Rogers said. “A lot of their bodies just weren’t very good.”
However, the extra bodies proved useful, and The Chronicle put up a fight in the first game, holding a four-point lead early on and staying close throughout. It was ultimately unsuccessful, and Rogers scored the game-winning points on an assist from DTH senior Sports Editor Hunter Nelson to give the DTH an early 1-0 lead in the series with a 25-21 win.
Daily Tar Heel Sports Editor Hunter Nelson celebrates during the rivalry basketball game against The Duke Chronicle in Rams Head Recreation Center on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. DTH beat The Chronicle 2-1.
The second game saw the two sides traded buckets before a buzzer-beater from Chronicle first-year Ranjan Jindal clinched a 28-26 Duke victory to tie the series.
The army of Duke students broke out into raucous applause — something Rogers found to be over-the-top but not intimidating.
“They were celebrating like they had just won the whole thing,” he said. “They stormed the court, basically. I was confused, because I didn’t think they won the first game, and then I remembered I hit the game-winner so I knew they didn’t.”
The DTH came out of the gate hot in the final game, earning a substantial 13-3 lead, helped by the the exit of Jindal, who left mid-game due to leg cramping. However, other players stepped up in his place, like sophomore Franck Djidjeu, whose dangerous shooting ability kept the Durham side competitive.
Daily Tar Heel Assistant Sports Editor Shelby Swanson dribbles the ball during the rivalry basketball game against The Duke Chronicle in Rams Head Recreation Center on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. DTH beat The Chronicle 2-1.
But The Chronicle was not the only team that saw players clutch up down the stretch. The DTH had a last-minute appearance from sophomore Senior Writer Daniel Wei, which spelled doom for the players from Durham.
Battling a long-standing knee injury and a scheduled rest day, it was unclear if Wei would play. But when he heard the news that Duke had won the second game, he knew he had no choice.
After checking in, he sank two three-pointers in his brief time on the court. The Chronicle never again got close, and the DTH ultimately won 26-18.
The last game required all the basketball skill gained from covering the sport, and the DTH called on their most experienced players. Nelson was playing for his legacy in his last year of eligibility, and he scored eight points in the third game, clinching his spot as the DTH’s top scorer of the series.
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Members of The Daily Tar Heel basketball team cheer on their teammates during the rivalry game against The Duke Chronicle in Rams Head Recreation Center on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. DTH beat The Chronicle 2-1.
“From a standpoint of: the passion for the game, the intensity, the rivalry, the rivalry edition,” he said. “Donate at dailytarheel.com. That’s what we’re here for.”
Junior Chronicle Sports Editor Jonathan Levitan said he was proud of his team’s effort in a tough conference matchup, and was looking forward to continuing the tradition in the future.
“There’s no Duke without UNC, no UNC without Duke,” he said. “We’re proud of our newsroom and to be out here celebrating and fighting for student journalism with a great paper like the DTH.”
The Chapel Hill newsroom may have won out on the court, but it’s up to the donors at home to push the DTH over the top in the Rivalry Challenge.
To donate, go to bit.ly/beatdook. The donation period ends at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6.
The Daily Tar Heel celebrates their victory after the rivalry basketball game against The Duke Chronicle in Rams Head Recreation Center on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. DTH beat The Chronicle 2-1.
Gwen Peace is the 2023-24 assistant sports editor at The Daily Tar Heel. She has previously served as a senior writer. Gwen is a sophomore pursuing a double major in media and journalism and peace, war and defense.
