NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Montell Watson recorded 15 points and Brett James chipped in 13 markers as seventh-seeded Elon foiled the sixth-seeded College of Charleston for a 75-61 semifinal victory in the 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Sunday night at North Charleston Coliseum.
The Phoenix (14-18) won for the third time in as many days, defeating 10th-seeded Furman 52-37 Friday and second-seeded Chattanooga 60-57 Saturday. Elon will now make its first appearance in a SoCon final at 9 p.m. Monday when it battles No. 25 Davidson (25-6) at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of a national audience on ESPN2.
The two-time defending tournament champion Wildcats fashioned a perfect 20-0 regular-season league ledger this season – including a 59-57 win at Elon on Jan. 9 and a 74-64 triumph over the Phoenix at Davidson on Feb. 6 – before dispatching eighth-seeded Wofford 82-49 Saturday and fifth-seeded UNC Greensboro 82-52 Sunday. The Wildcats have won their last 35 contests against SoCon foes.
At 14 victories, Elon has forged its second-highest win total in its nine official campaigns as an NCAA Division I member. The 2005-06 Phoenix posted a winning 15-14 ledger en route to claiming the SoCon North Division title and advancing to the semifinal round of the league tournament. Elon will be making its first-ever NCAA-I conference championship game appearance Monday night.
Against Charleston (16-17), Watson moved into fourth place among Elon’s all-time leaders with 324 assists. His three assists against the Cougars, enabled him to pass Wes Jones (322 in 1987-1991) for the fourth spot. Watson also canned three shots from three-point land to move into fourth place among all-time Phoenix leaders with his 130th trey, surpassing Brendon Rowell (128 in 1998-2002).
The Cougars led once at 2-0 following a Dustin Scott lay-up just 21 seconds into the game. Just 20 seconds later, T.J. Douglas knocked down a three-point field goal to give the Phoenix the lead for good. That basket ignited a 21-10 run as Elon built a 21-12 advantage following a bucket in the paint by James with 11:34 to go in the opening period.
Trailing by a 37-28 margin with 3:42 remaining before the intermission, Charleston reeled off six straight points to inch to within 37-34 on a pair of foul shots by Andrew Goudelock with 38 ticks to play before the break. The Phoenix gradually outscored the Cougars 23-16 over the next 13:54 to stretch the difference to 60-50 with 6:44 to play after scores by Chris Long and James.
"I thought our defense was really outstanding going down the stretch," Elon coach Ernie Nestor said. "We made some really good plays. We are very pleased. We have great respect for Charleston. I have an abundance of respect for their coach, Bobby Cremins. He is one of the true gentlemen of college basketball."
Scott connected on 10 of his 11 shots from the field to lead all scorers with 22 points. Jeremy Simmons posted 11 points and Tony White, Jr. added 10 for Charleston. Elon ended up with 12 points apiece by Long and Ola Atoyebi and 13 rebounds by Adam Constantine. The Phoenix out-rebounded the Cougars 34-32 and committed just eight turnovers to Charleston’s seven.
Despite Scott's superior marksmanship, Charleston shot just 39.3 percent (24 of 61) from the field – 34.4 percent (11 of 32) in the second stanza. The Cougars finished at 75.0 percent (9 of 12) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Phoenix fired 49.1 percent (26 of 53) from the floor and 80.0 percent (16 of 20) from the foul line.
–ELON–
