Elon and The Citadel battled to a 47-47 tie at the Elon of regulation to force the extra period. Demetrius Nelson converted one free throw and Kevin Hammack recorded a layup to give the Bulldogs a 50-47 lead with 4:16 left in the overtime period. Ola Atoyebi tallied a two-point basket for the Phoenix with 3:27 on the clock to put Elon within one at 50-49. J’Mel Everhart then sank two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to put The Citadel ahead 52-49. Elon had one last dramatic attempt to extend the game as Waters put up a jumper before the buzzer from the top of the arc that bounced off the back of the rim, came back down and rolled around the rim and off to give the Bulldogs the win.

Elon (5-17, 3-9 SoCon) started the contest with an early 5-0 lead at the 17:47 mark before the Bulldogs used a 13-0 run to go ahead 13-5 with 10:06 on the clock. Elon then notched a basket by Chris Chalko and a three from Waters to cut the lead to three at 13-10 with 7:52 left in the half. A basket by Waters knotted the game 17-17 with 4:43 left in the half before a three-pointer from Jon Ogolo gave Elon a 20-17 advantage with 3:58 on the clock. After ties at 20 and 22, The Citadel took at 26-23 lead on back-to-back baskets by Everhart with 1:25 left before Ogolo sank his second three of the half to knot the game 26-26 going into intermission.

The Citadel (7-16, 4-8 SoCon) started the second stanza on a 10-2 run behind six points from Hammack to take a 36-28 lead with 13:51 on the clock. Back-to-back three pointers by Chalko and a lay up by Waters tied the game 36-36 with 10:48 on the clock. The teams traded the lead before Elon went up by four at 45-41 on a three pointer from Chalko with 3:30 left. Elon held a 47-43 lead before two free throws by Everhart cut the lead to two at 47-45 with 1:10 on the clock. After Elon failed to convert on its next possession, the Bulldogs got the ball back with 14 seconds on the clock. Hammack drew a foul with seven second remaining and sank both shots to knot the game 47-47 and force overtime.

Chalko led Elon with 16 points while Waters added 12 points. Atoyebi and Ogolo each posted eight points while Scott Grable led Elon on the boards with six rebounds. John Charlesworth posted a career-best eight assists. The Phoenix shot 37.0 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc while going just 1-for-7 from the line.

Everhart paced The Citadel with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Hammack added 13 points and six boards. The Bulldogs shot 40 percent from the field, 20 percent from three-point range and 66.7 percent from the line while out-rebounding the Phoenix 41-26.

Elon is next in action on Saturday, Feb. 10 against Furman in a 2 p.m. contest in the “Nest” that will be televised on Fox Sports Net South.

Elon/Citadel Box Score