ELON, N.C. – Steve Rossiter’s one-handed heave swished through the net as the final second ticked off the clock to give the Davidson Wildcats a double-overtime 99-96 win over the Elon Phoenix in front of a raucous crowd of 1,934 on Senior Night at Alumni Gym. After a Brendan McKillop three-pointer tied the game with two seconds remaining, Rossiter stole the inbounds pass and let go of a prayer before the final horn sounded.

With the game tied for the tenth time, 93-93, with 34 seconds to go in the second OT, Elon’s Chris Long hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line on the next two Phoenix possessions to put the home team up, 96-93, with 14 ticks to play. Elon forced a missed trey by JP Kulhman, but Davidson came up with the long rebound and McKillop drained one of his seven three-pointers to knot the score before Rossiter stole the show.

“This was a great college basketball game,” Elon head coach Matt Matheny said. “We had great energy and fought through adversity. I feel disappointed for our four seniors who have led us all year. It is hard that such a great game has to end like that, but it did. We have reached one of our goals this year, which is to play at our best. We are now playing at our best.”

Elon will have a chance to avenge the loss in the very near future, as the Phoenix (8-22, 5-13) and Wildcats (16-14, 11-7) will meet in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament next Friday afternoon.

Drew Spradlin’s 25 points led four Elon players in double figures. Spradlin scored 11 points in the extra minutes, connecting on 9-of-18 for the game. Adam Constantine was impressive in his final contest in front of the home crowd, dumping in 15 points and posting a game-high 12 rebounds. Long narrowly missed a double-double with 16 points and nine assists. Senior Devan Carter netted double figures for the second straight game, contributing 12 points.

McKillop, Kuhlman and Jake Cohen each recorded 24-point performances to lead the Wildcats. McKillop and Kuhlman combined for 11-of-23 from downtown, each hitting daggers at the conclusion of both regulation and overtime that kept the game alive for Davidson.

Fans got their monies worth in an emotional game that featured the SoCon’s all-time wins leader in head coach Bob McKillop on the Davidson sideline and his protégé first-year Elon head coach Matheny on the opposite bench. The game featured a series of runs in regulation, with each team managing to take double-digit leads throughout the course of action.

On the strength of four straight McKillop triples, Davidson used a 15-0 run early in the first half to jump out to a 27-11 lead with 9:27 on the clock. Elon senior Jon Ogolo drained a three ball to halt the streak and jump start a 19-0 Phoenix run that gave Elon a 30-27 lead with under four minutes to play in the half. An 11-6 stretch to close the first 20 minutes of action gave Elon the 41-35 edge heading into the locker room.

Elon led for the entire second half, building its lead to as many as 14 on two occasions. With Elon holding a 70-56 advantage with 5:53 remaining in the second stanza, a Nik Cochran three-point play started an 18-7 Davidson run that ended with a game-tying Kulman long ball with six seconds on the clock. Long’s three-point attempt fell short at the buzzer and the teams headed to the first overtime with the score tied at 77. 

The Phoenix led by as many as four, 82-78, in a low-scoring extra stanza, but Davidson scored five of the final six points to tie the game 83-83, giving fans more free basketball.  

Elon’s biggest crowd of the year saw the Phoenix’s first overtime contest in Alumni Gym since a win against Lipscomb on Dec. 22, 2008. The fans, all dressed in maroon for Elon’s Maroon to the Max event, did not go unnoticed by the Elon players and staff.

“This gym has such incredible potential to be a fun place to play, night in and night out,” Spradlin said after the game. “You have no idea what a difference it makes to have all those screaming fans so close to the court. I am just so appreciative that everyone came out. Yes, it is a loss and yes, it was a dagger, but it was so much fun to play in the game. It would be great to play in that atmosphere for every game.”

Elon, the sixth-seed in the SoCon North Division, will begin preparing for the rematch with Davidson. The teams open the 2010 league tournament with a contest on Friday, March 5 at 2 p.m.