Men's Basketball 1/9/2009 12:46:00 PM

Elon Travels to Western Carolina for Saturday SoCon Contest

CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Looking for its first road win of the 2008-09 season, the Elon Phoenix men's basketball team will play the second game of a three-game road swing with a 7 p.m. contest at Western Carolina on Saturday night from the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C. Elon enters at 4-7 overall and 1-3 in SoCon play while the Catamounts sit at 7-5, 2-0.

Saturday's game can be heard live on 920 AM WPCM and for free on-line at www.elonphoenix.com.

Elon and Western Carolina will be facing off for the 83rd time in this series. Elon leads the series by a 49-33 margin, but is 5-6 against the Cats since moving to NCAA Division I play. The Phoenix has won three of the last five and the two teams split their two games last season, each winning at home.

Despite ranking eighth in the Southern Conference in scoring offense (64.6 ppg), the Phoenix leads in the league in assists, averaging 15.4 helpers per outing. Elon also rates fifth in the league in scoring defense, allowing 71.1 points per game. The Phoenix also rates second in the SoCon with 8.6 steals per contest.

Through 11 games, Chris Long has a team-best 63 assists. In the most recent NCAA rankings, Long rated 13th nationally by averaging 6.4 assists per game. Long also rated 24th with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio.

In those same rankings, Ola Atoyebi ranked 24th nationally with a 59.5 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 14.3 points per game and is second on the team lead with 4.8 rebounds per contest. Atoyebi paces the team with 6.0 caroms per outing and is also scoring in double figures, averaging 13.5 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 1,067 career points place him 25th on the school's all-time list.

In seven career games against the Catamounts, James has averaged 9.4 points per game while Atoyebi has averaged 10.4 points in five career games vs. WCU. Atoyebi has also averaged 7.2 rebounds per games in the series.

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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