The Phoenix (3-9 overall, 1-2 SoCon) forged an early 16-4 lead on a three-pointer by T.J. Douglas with 9:34 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs (4-10, 1-2) responded with a 12-1 run to draw within 17-16 on a pair of charity shots by Hammack with 5:08 to go in the opening period.
Answering with a 13-6 spurt, Elon extended its edge to 30-22 on a jumper by LeVonn Jordan with 22 ticks left before the intermission. The Phoenix maintained a lead of four to eight points early in the second half, going up 40-32 on a lay-up by Brett James with 12:57 remaining in the contest.
The Citadel reeled off eight consecutive points to force the game’s first tie at 40-40 on a lay-up by Hammack with 9:56 to play. A three-point bucket by Vytautas Valiulis gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the contest at 43-40 with 8:48 remaining.
A jumper by Ola Atoyebi ended The Citadel’s string of 11-straight points, pulling Elon within 43-42 with 8:08 to go. After a lay-up by the Bulldogs’ Demetrius Nelson, Jordan sank a jumper for Elon’s final field goal with 6:48 left.
A basket inside by J’Mel Everhart stretched The Citadel advantage to 47-44 with 6:10 remaining. Chris Chalko canned three consecutive charity shots to even the count for the second and final time at 47-47 with 4:57 to play.
Back-to-back inside moves by Nelson gave the Bulldogs a 51-47 edge with 2:31 left. A pair of free throws by Jordan and a charity shot by Brett James pulled the Phoenix within 51-50 with 1:21 to go, but Elon was unable to score again.
The Phoenix shooters were held to a season-low 26.9 percent (season-low 14 of 52) from the floor, including 22.2 percent (6 of 27) from beyond the arch. Elon, which missed all 13 of its second-half attempts from three-point land, fired 80 percent (16 of 20) from the free throw line.
The Citadel shot 40.4 percent (19 of 47) from the field, 28.6 percent (4 of 14) from behind the three-point line and 68.8 percent (11 of 16) from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards by a 36-34 margin and outscored the Phoenix 30-10 in the paint and 25-9 off the bench. The Phoenix tallied 11 turnovers to 13 for the Bulldogs.
Jordan led Elon with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Chalko added 11 points. Jordan’s double-double performance marked the first by a Phoenix player this season. He also became the first Elon player to record double digits in the rebounding department this season.
This coming Saturday, Elon returns to non-conference action when Penn visits Alumni Gym at 2 p.m. while The Citadel visits Wofford at 7 p.m.
– ELON – Game Box Score
