NORTH CHARLESTON, SC -- Jackson "Big Jack" Atoyebi pounded home a season-high 15 points, including three old-fashioned three-point plays, as Elon overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to defeat Big South Conference co-leader Charleston Southern 57-50 Monday night at the CSU Fieldhouse.
The 6-6, 240-pound Atoyebi cashed in on six of his 10 field goal attempts and three of his five tries at the free throw line. He also contributed three rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals while the smothering Phoenix defense held CSU to 18 second-half points.
Scottie Rice added 13 points for the Phoenix (8-13, 4-6 Big South) while helping Elon mentor Mark Simons snare his 200th career victory as a head men's college basketball coach. The Buccaneers (12-10, 6-3 Big South) fell into a four-way tie for first place in the league standings.
Charleston Southern was led by Charles White's 15 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Warzynski added 12 points and Kevin Warzynski scored 10. The Buccaneers, ranked third nationally in free throw shooting, hit only 11-of-20 shots (55.0 percent) from the charity stripe in the game.
Charleston Southern shot 66.7 percent in the first half on its way to a 32-26 halftime edge. The Phoenix trailed by as many as nine points in the opening period and never led during the contest's first 31:03.
The Bucs led 37-30 with 16:22 remaining before Elon began its run. Trailing 42-37 with 12:17 left in the contest, the Phoenix mounted an 11-0 run over the next four minutes, taking a 48-42 lead with 7:49 remaining.
Trent Drafts hit a jumper with 6:06 remaining to bring CSU within 50-46 before both teams went dry from the field. Each team went more than four minutes without a point before Chris Warzynski made it 50-48 with 2:05 remaining in the game.
Just seconds later, Warzynski picked up a steal and raced for the game-tying basket, only to bounce the layup attempt too hard off the glass. Elon proceeded to score seven of the next nine points to secure the victory.
Elon, which shot 43.5 percent from the field in the first half, fired 50 percent from the field in the second half. Rice made three of Elon's four three-pointers and added six boards and three steals for the Phoenix.
--ELON-- Game Box Score
