DAVIDSON, N.C. – Led by 36 points from the nation’s fifth leading scorer, Stephen Curry, the Davidson Wildcats held off a fiesty Elon Phoenix squad for a 74-64 Southern Conference men’s basketball victory from Belk Arena on Wednesday night. Brett James recorded his second double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Elon who fell to 7-15 overall and 5-9 in the SoCon. The Wildcats won their 12th consecutive game overall and 24th straight league affair to improve to 16-6, 14-0.
Elon got on the board first when Adam Constantine sank the second of two free throws 1:37 into the game. Curry would knock down two from the charity stripe at 18:02 to put Davidson on top. The Phoenix reclaimed the lead at 3-2 on a James jumper about a minute and a half later. It was the last lead of the night for Elon.
Davidson claimed a 4-3 advantage with a Curry jumper just under five minutes into the contest. After another jumper from Curry made the score 6-3, Ola Atoyebi put in a layup to close to within one marker, but a 7-0 run to grab a 13-5 lead with 10:59 to play in the half.
With 6:17 to go in the stanza, the Wildcat margin reached 13 points thanks to a Thomas Sander layup. That was the largest lead of the half at 27-14. Elon responded and closed the half with a 12-4 run to pull within 31-26 at the break.
The Phoenix closed the gap to just three points 34 seconds into period number two as James drained two from the line. Over the next 6:18, however, Davidson outscored Elon 14-5 to pull away with a 12-point cushion at 45-33.
A pesky Elon team would not let Davidson slam the door as the Phoenix rallied yet again, narrowing the margin to just five points on one of four TJ Douglas treys with 6:06 showing on the game clock. A Brian Waters three with 3:16 to go trimmed the Phoenix deficit to four points at 62-58 before Curry answered with a three at the other end. On Elon’s next possession, Douglas drained another from long range, pulling the Phoenix back within four with 2:30 left.
Davidson would score the next four points, all by Jason Richards from the free throw line, to put the game out of reach. The margin grew back to 10 on another Richards free throw with 36 ticks to play.
Douglas’ 12 points established a new career-high while Constantine knocked down a career-best seven free throws and finished the contest with 13 points and nine rebounds. Atoyebi led all Elon scorers with 14 markers off the bench. James hit six free throws to establish a new career-best. Montell Watson swiped one steal, the 150th of his career, to move into a tie for fifth place on Elon’s career list with Eric Blair (1984-88) and one shy of equaling fourth place which is held by Mel Melton (1981-84).
Richards, the country’s leader in assists, ended the game with 16 points and just four assists after averaging 8.3 dishes per contest..
Elon finished the game with 12 assists to just eight for Davidson. The Phoenix also bested the Wildcats in offensive rebounds (14-8) while Davidson edged out Elon in total rebounds (37-36), blocks (7-3) and steals (9-4).
Both teams worked the ball inside for an almost identical number of points as Davidson netted 24 points in the paint and Elon put in 22 markers in the lane. Both teams committed 15 turnovers, but Elon turned those into 14 points while Davidson got just six points off of Elon’s miscues. The Wildcats also mustered just three second chance points while the Phoenix recorded 18 in that category.
Elon returns to the hardwood on Sat., Feb. 9 with a 7 p.m. tip at Wofford. That game will conclude a five-game road swing for the Phoenix.
– ELON –
