ELON, N.C. -- The Lees-McRae Bobcats will pay a visit to the "Nest" for a 7 p.m. men's basketball contest against the Elon Phoenix on Friday night. The game will be the first for the Phoenix since defeating The Citadel 56-54 on Dec. 6. Lees-McRae enters with an 0-10 overall record while Elon sports a 2-4 ledger on the 2008-09 campaign.
Friday's game can be heard live on 920 AM WPCM. Phoenix All Access will also have live video and audio available at www.elonphoenix.com.
Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to Friday's game can receive admission for just $5.
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Elon and Lees-McRae. Elon leads the all-time series by a 3-1 margin. This will be the first time the two school have met since Elon moved to the NCAA Division I ranks.
Despite ranking eighth in the Southern Conference in scoring offense (64.5 ppg), the Phoenix leads in the league in assists, averaging 16.3 helpers per outing.
Through six games,
Chris Long has a team-best 41 assists. In the most recent NCAA rankings, Long rated 10th nationally by averaging 6.8 assists per game – a number which also leads the SoCon.
In those same rankings,
Ola Atoyebi ranked 42nd nationally with a 57.9 field goal percentage. As a squad, Elon placed 38th nationally in assists (16.3 per game) and 54th nationally in fouls per game (16.5 committed per outing).
Elon is led by Atoyebi and
Brett James who are each averaging 14.2 points per game. James also paces the team with 5.8 rebounds per game.
James, a senior guard, netted six points against The Citadel, moving him within five points of 1,000 for his career. If he reaches the mark, James would become the 32nd player in the 100-season history of the Elon program to do so and the first since Chris Chalko eclipsed the 1,000-point mark on Feb. 19, 2007 against Chattanooga.
Junior guard
Devan Carter had never had more than five rebounds in a game in his career prior Elon’s last two games. Carter established a new career-best in outings against both College of Charleston and The Citadel. Against CofC, Carter corralled seven rebounds before grabbing eight boards in a win over The Citadel. His previous high of five came against VCU on Nov. 28, 2006.
A year ago, Elon surrendered 80+ points in just four outings (91 at Virginia, 89 at UNC Greensboro, 86 vs. College of Charleston in overtime and 81 vs. UT Martin). Elon won one of those games (CofC). In four games this year the Phoenix has allowed 80+ twice (92 at West Virginia and 82 at UT Martin).
The 2008-09 season represents the 100th season in the history of the Elon program. The program has not run for 100 consecutive seasons, however, as the school suspended its athletics programs during World War II. The men's basketball team is the second Elon program to reach 100 seasons. The Elon baseball team played its 100th season in 2002 – the first year it made the NCAA Baseball Regionals.
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