ELON, N.C. - Scottie Rice and LeVonn Jordan each registered 13 points as Elon staved off Chattanooga 69-61 - clinching the Southern Conference North Division men's basketball title - Monday night at Alumni Gym.
Coupled with an 83-66 Western Carolina (6-6 SoCon) home loss to Appalachian State in the meantime Monday night, Elon's triumph over the Mocs (15-12 overall, 6-6 SoCon) gave the Phoenix (13-12 overall, 9-3 SoCon) the North Division crown with two regular season games remaining. Elon won for the 11th time in 14 games since opening the season at 2-9.
Playing in their home finale, Rice (pictured right) and Jordan (nine rebounds) paced five Phoenix scorers in double digits. Jackson Atoyebi (11 points), Chris Chalko (11 points), Brett James (10 points, three blocked shots) and Simon Harris (nine rebounds) all turned in key performances as Elon closed out its home slate with eight consecutive wins at Alumni Gym.
With the victory, the Phoenix completed a two-game season series sweep of the defending SoCon tournament champion Mocs. Competing in the SoCon for just its third year, Elon also beat Chattanooga 92-74 on the road on Jan. 9.
The Phoenix (7-0 versus the SoCon at Alumni Gym) erupted to an early 9-0 lead on a lay-up by Rasmi Gamble with 17:17 left in the first half. The Mocs answered with a 16-7 run to even the score at 16-16 on a three-pointer by Jerice Crouch with 11:19 to play in the period.
Back-to-back jumpers by Atoyebi and James put the Phoenix back up 20-16 with 10:02 remaining in the half. Chattanooga used a 7-3 spurt to tie the contest at 23-23 on a jumper by Charles Anderson with 7:36 left before the break.
James ended the run with a three-point field goal to give Elon the lead for good at 26-23 with 7:17 to go in the frame. The Phoenix went on to settle for a 34-30 halftime advantage.
Elon opened the second stanza with an 11-5 surge to extend its edge to 45-35 on an old fashion three-point play by Jordan with 16:14 left in the contest. The Phoenix maintained an advantage of three to 10 points the rest of the way.
For the Mocs, Steve Cherry logged game highs with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Crouch added 13 points. Chattanooga only yielded 10 turnovers while forcing 17 Phoenix miscues. The Mocs outscored Elon 23-6 off turnovers.
The Phoenix fired 43.9 percent (25-for-57) from the field, including 48.0 percent (12-for-25) in the second half, while the Mocs shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) from the floor. Elon won the battle of the boards by a 44-30 margin.
The Phoenix will visit Western Carolina at 7 p.m. Saturday. Chattanooga will host Appalachian State at 7 p.m. Monday.
- ELON - Game Box Score
