RALEIGH, N.C. -- Four Elon players netted 11 or more points to lead the Phoenix to a season-opening 73-59 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round of the BCA Invitational on Wednesday night.

Jackson Atoyebi led all scorers with 20 points while Chris Chalko added a career-high 17 points and Scottie Rice and Colin Wyatt chipped in 11 each.

The Phoenix (1-0) opened up a nine point lead on a Chalko layup with 11:41 to play in the first half, the biggest lead of the period. The Knights (0-1) would fight back and claim a 26-25 advantage when Andre Harris drained a jumper at the 6:45 mark. Elon closed the half on an 11-7 run to hold a 36-33 lead at the end of the first half of play.

Elon kept the Knights scoreless for the first 2:58 of the second stanza, pushing the lead to 42-33 before Fairleigh Dickinson was able to put the ball through the hoop. The Kinghts cut the lead to four with 16:08 to play, but would get no closer as Elon quickly pushed the lead to double digits when a Wyatt layup put the Phoenix up by 10 points with 13:56 to play.

Atoyebi gave Elon its biggest lead of the night when his layup with 8:10 to go put the Phoenix up by 19, 65-46.

Elon held Northeast Conference Preseason Player of the Year Gordon Klaiber to only 10 points on the night. Chad Timberlake led the Knights with 16 markers.

Klaiber led all players with seven rebounds while Montell Watson paced the Phoenix on the boards with six.

Elon shot 57.8 percent from the field on the night, including 68.4 percent in the second half, and held Fairleigh Dickinson to a 36.7 percent clip. The Phoenix also connected on five of its 10 three-point tries, while the Knights hit four of 15 attempts from long range.

The Phoenix will play 19th-ranked North Carolina State on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in the tournament's second round. Fairleigh Dickinson will play New Orleans at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Game Box Score

-- ELON --