ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team fell to the Wildcats of Davidson College 68-57 in Southern Conference play tonight at Alumni Gym in front of a near-capacity crowd. The Wildcats move to 7-7 on the season, 3-0 in conference play while Elon falls to 2-13, 0-2.
In a game that saw five ties and nine lead changes, the Wildcats shot 91.7 percent from the three throw line, making 22 of 24 attempts. The Phoenix edged the Wildcats in points in the paint (26-20), fast beak points (6-2) and bench points (28-16) while Davidson took advantages in rebounds (41-32), points off turnovers (12-5) and second-chance points (8-6).
With 11:42 left in the game and Elon ahead by two, Thomas Sander scored to tie the game at 36. The teams then went back and forth for the next 10 minutes with each team leading at one time by four points before Davidson stretched its lead to six on a lay up by Ian Johnson with two minutes left to play. The Wildcats led the rest of the way, going 11-for-11 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to close the game with a 68-58 victory.
The Wildcats led by seven to start the second half before Elon went on a 11-2 run behind the hot shot of Chris Chalko to take the lead at 14:07. Chalko score two three-pointers in the run while Scottie Rice added a three-pointer to take the lead, 33-31.
In the first half of play, Elon lead 6-3 before Kenny Grant drained a three-point bucket to tie the game at 15:35. The Wildcats then took the lead and led by as many as five on a lay up from Sander at the 10:33 mark.
A lay up at 7:41 by Ryan Jones cut the Davidson lead to two at 16-14 before Simon Harris scored in the paint to tie the game, 16-16. Davidson’s Logan Kosmalski scored the game’s next six points and gave the Wildcats a 22-18 lead at the break.
Elon was led by Rice with 17 points and seven rebounds while Chalko added 14 points, including four three-point field goals, and five rebounds. Brian Waters notched 12 points while Harris recorded eight points and six rebounds.
Brendan Winters led the Wildcats with 17 points, including nine free throws. Grant added 12 points while Kosmalski recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds with all 10 rebounds coming in the first half.
Elon returns to action on Monday night in Alumni Gym at 8 p.m. against Chattanooga. Davidson returns home on Tuesday, Jan. 11 in a 7 p.m. tip with Appalachian State.
–ELON– Game Box Score
