Men's Basketball 1/21/2009 2:42:00 PM

Elon Five Ready to Host Samford Cagers in SoCon Tilt

ELON, N.C. -- The Elon men's basketball squad will get its first look at Southern Conference newcomer Samford by hosting the Bulldogs in a league game at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the "Nest." The Phoenix is looking to snap a six-game skid and enters with a 4-10 overall record and a 1-5 SoCon ledger. Samford sits at 8-8 overall and 3-4 in the league after winning back-to-back games against Western Carolina and Appalachian State.

Thursday's game can be heard live on 920 AM WPCM. The game will also be streamed live on Phoenix All Access on www.elonphoenix.com.

This will be the first-ever meeting between Elon and Samford on the hardwood.

Elon and Samford share one non-league opponent in Lipscomb. The Bulldogs knocked off Lipscomb by a 57-50 margin in Birmingham on Nov. 24 while the Phoenix defeated Lipscomb 79-76 in overtime in Elon on Dec. 22, the last time the Phoenix earned a victory.

Despite ranking eighth in the Southern Conference in scoring offense (65.6 ppg), the Phoenix sits third in the league in assists, averaging 14.7 helpers per outing. The Phoenix also rates third in the SoCon with 8.3 steals per contest.

Through 14 games, Chris Long has a team-best 74 assists. In the most recent NCAA rankings, Long rated 46th nationally by averaging 5.3 assists per game. Long also rated 42nd with a 2.24 assist/turnover ratio.

In those same rankings, Ola Atoyebi ranked 26th nationally with a 58.4 field goal percentage. As a squad, Elon placed 86th nationally in assists (14.7 per game) and 54th nationally in steals per game (8.3).

Elon is led by Atoyebi's 14.5 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Brett James is adding 13.6 points and 5.3 caroms each outing for the Phoenix. Long has his points per game average up to 8.5 while Devan Carter is contributing 5.8 points per game.

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. His 1,100 career points place him 24th on the school's all-time list, 45 markers shy of the 1,145 scored by Pat Ceasar (1988-92) for 23rd place.

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 14 games this year the Phoenix has allowed 80+ four times (92 at West Virginia, 82 at UT Martin, 83 at Davidson and 89 vs. UNC Greensboro).

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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