ELON, N.C. -- The Elon men’s basketball team will make its fourth straight appearance in the ESPNU BracketBusters event when it goes head-to-head with the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs on Saturday, February 20 at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. The Phoenix and Bulldogs (7-19) will meet on the hardwood for the 34th time in school history but only the first time since 2003. Elon (7-19) is 3-2 in its last five contests and is coming off a 70-65 victory over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday.
The Series
Series Record: Gardner-Webb leads, 23-10
First Meeting: GW won, 91-72, 1971-72
Last Meeting: GW won, 68-65, 11/18/03
Largest Victory: 20 pts, 80-60, 2/23/94
Largest Defeat: 47 pts, 111-64, 2/26/93
Streak: Gardner-Webb has won one
Game Notes
• Saturday’s contest with Gardner-Webb is Elon’s final non-league game of the regular season.
• This is Elon’s fourth straight appearance in the ESPNU BracketBusters event — Elon has yet to win a BracketBusters game.
• In its win over UNCG on Wednesday, Elon held the lead for the entire game — the Phoenix had not led for the entire 40 minutes in any of its other Division I victories.
• Elon’s goal all year has been to be playing its best basketball in March. The Phoenix has had its best month of the season in February and is 3-2 in the last five contests. Only four SoCon teams have better records in that same span. Here is a look at the records in the league over the last five contests:
The Citadel: 5-0
Wofford: 5-0
College of Charleston: 4-1
Appalachian State: 4-1
Elon: 3-2 Davidson: 2-3
Furman: 2-3
Samford: 1-4
Chattanooga: 1-4
Western Carolina: 1-4
Georgia Southern: 1-4
UNC Greensboro: 0-5
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Chris Long moved into sixth place on Elon’s all-time assist list with 305. He is averaging 5.6 apg in the last five contests.
• Elon and Gardner-Webb have met on 33 previous occasions, but only once since each transitioned to the Division I level.
• The Bulldogs have won four of the last five meetings, but Elon picked up a 105-92 overtime victory the last time it visited Boiling Springs on Feb. 27, 1997.
• This is the third consecutive year that a Big South member and a SoCon member will play one another in the BracketBusters. In 2008-09, Winthrop topped App St., 65-63, and in 2007-08, Winthrop came out on the losing end of a 60-47 score against Davidson.
-- ELON --