ELON, N.C. – Adam Constantine posted 13 points and Brett James and T.J. Douglas each chipped in 11 points as Elon topped The Citadel 65-51 for its second Southern Conference men’s basketball victory in as many games Monday night at Alumni Gym.
It marked the first back-to-back SoCon victories for the Phoenix since Elon defeated Western Carolina 59-49 on Nov. 27 and Furman 66-61 on Dec. 1 in a pair of home contests to open league play at 2-0 this season.
The victory also gave the Phoenix (9-15 overall, 7-9 SoCon) the two-game season series sweep of the Bulldogs (5-18 overall, 0-14 SoCon). The Citadel swept the season series from Elon last year. The Phoenix now leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs by a 7-2 margin.
In a game that featured seven ties and six lead changes, the Bulldogs built a 23-19 edge on a jumper by Austin Dahn with 1:58 to play in the first half. James responded with a jumper of his own, pulling the Phoenix to within 23-21 at the 1:37 mark before Douglas’ trey with six ticks left gave Elon a 24-23 halftime edge.
Dino Dogan gave The Citadel its final tie at 35-35 on a bucket with 13:11 remaining in the contest. The Phoenix went on a 17-7 run to fashion a 52-42 advantage on a basket by Montell Watson with 4:09 on the clock. Scores by Dahn and Daniel Eykyn brought the Bulldogs within 52-46 with 3:11 to go, but Elon closed the game with a 13-5 surge.
Ola Atoyebi hauled in 10 rebounds, James pulled down seven caroms and Brian Waters collected 10 points, six boards and four assists for the Phoenix while Dahn (game-high 14 points) and Cameron Wells (13 points, game-high 11 rebounds, game-high six assists, game-high three steals) spearheaded The Citadel attack.
Waters' six rebounds tied his career high. He has now hauled in six boards on five occasions, including four times this season.
Elon outscored the Bulldogs 32-20 in the paint, 13-8 off turnovers, 14-8 off second chances and 16-7 off the bench. The Phoenix won the battle of the boards 38-26 and fired 48.1 percent (26 of 54) from the field – 55.6 percent (15 of 27) in the second stanza – to a 37.0-percent clip (20 of 54) by The Citadel.
Each team committed nine turnovers, marking the second consecutive contest in which Elon turned the ball over in single digits. The Phoenix also committed a season-low eight fouls. The last time that Elon fouled in single digits was when the Phoenix committed six fouls in a game at Furman on Jan. 24, 2005.
James has now scored 11 or more points in 13 of his last 14 games, including the last 11 in a row. James was last held below 11 points when the Bulldogs limited him to five markers in Elon's 72-63 victory at The Citadel on Jan. 3.
Constantine blocked two shots as the Phoenix piled up five blocks to go with its seven blocks against the Bulldogs last month for 12 total blocks in the two contests against the same opponent.
On Thursday, Elon welcomes Appalachian State to Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. while The Citadel visits Western Carolina at 7:05 p.m.
– ELON –