CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Some coming to the Charlotte 49ers basketball game had mixed emotions because the COVID-19 positivity rate is still over 30% in Mecklenburg County. But all fans say it’s about time they are back in the area and rooting on the home team.

There was plenty of dancing, cheering, and hundreds of people filling the seats at Halton Arena on the UNC Charlotte campus Wednesday night.

On December 31, 2021, the university sent out a notice saying for the start of the second semester only family members would be allowed at basketball games, leaving some diehard Niner fans missing the action.

“We can finally come back and watch ball games,” said fan, John Carson. “All last year we couldn’t be in there, then they had the outbreak and they stopped us from coming in again.”

The crowd built steadily as the action got underway, many putting on a mask as they got to the door, socially distancing, and providing that spark that the team may have been missing.

All fans say they don’t mind the current restrictions, even if there are some mixed emotions

“The mask requirements as they are right now, the cloth masks, if it does any good, great,” added Carson. “But the only one that really does good is that N95, and nobody is wearing them.”

Others say they’re simply happy to be in the arena once again.

“It’s a really good moment,” says student, Q Davis-Hayes. “It really brings the community and the Niner nation together and I’m ready to root for this team.”

The most excited people coming out were the students on the UNC Charlotte campus. They say they were attending classes virtually for the last couple of weeks and it’s great to get out and live the college experience.