Phoenix-Terps to Tangle on Tuesday

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Riding a three-game winning streak, the Elon Phoenix men's basketball program pays a visit to the Maryland Terrapins on Tuesday night from the Comcast Center. The Phoenix enters at 4-4 following a 79-76 overtime victory over Lipscomb on Dec. 22. The Terps are 9-2 after defeating Bryant 72-51 on Saturday.

Friday's game can be heard live on 920 AM WPCM and on-line at www.elonphoenix.com. ACC Select will also provide video of the contest at http://www.accselect.com.

This will be the first-ever meeting between Elon and Maryland in men's basketball.

Despite ranking seventh in the Southern Conference in scoring offense (68.4 ppg), the Phoenix leads in the league in assists, averaging 17.1 helpers per outing. Elon also rates fourth in the league in scoring defense, allowing 70.5 points per game. From beyond the arc, the Phoenix is one of the best in the league both shooting and defending the trey. Elon sits second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (37.9) and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (32.0).

Through eight games, Chris Long has a team-best 54 assists. In the most recent NCAA rankings, Long rated 23rd nationally by averaging 6.3 assists per game.

In those same rankings, Ola Atoyebi ranked 21st nationally with a 59.7 field goal percentage. As a squad, Elon placed 25th nationally in assists (17.0 per game) and 39th nationally in fouls per game (16.1 committed per outing).

Elon is led by Brett James who is averaging 16.1 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 5.1 rebounds per contest. Atoyebi is tied with James for the rebounding lead and is adding 15.1 points per outing.

James, a senior guard, netted 16 points against Lees-McRae to eclipse the 1,000-pooint mark for his career. James became the 32nd member of the 1,000-point club in the 100-season history of the Elon program and the first since Chris Chalko eclipsed the 1,000-point mark on Feb. 19, 2007 against Chattanooga.

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.

-- ELON --

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