Game Notes

ELON, N.C. – The Elon men’s basketball team will get into the heart of Southern Conference action when the Phoenix hosts the Samford Bulldogs in a 2 p.m. tilt on Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gym. The last two Elon versus Samford contests at Alumni Gym have been decided by a total of five points.

Site: Elon, N.C.
Arena: Alumni Gym
Radio: WPCM 920 AM — Taylor Durham (play-by-play) and Dick Stewart (color)
Live Statistics: elonphoenix.com
Series: Samford leads, 4-0

FREE THROWS
• Chris Long needs just 24 points to reach 1,000 points with 976 career points. He has scored 20+ in each of the last two games.
• Elon’s two-game winning streak came to a halt after a loss to NC State on Wednesday.
• The Phoenix finished its challenging non-conference schedule on Wednesday night — Elon played four ACC schools and an SEC opponent in non-conference action.
• Elon is still looking for its first league victory of the season after dropping three SoCon games prior to the holiday.
• Rookie Lucas Troutman has had at least one block in the last four contests.
• Chris Long has had five or more assists in six games this year, including the last four. He is averaging 6.8 apg over last four games.
• Elon leads the Southern Conference in scoring offense with 75.6 ppg; Samford ranks 11th with 63.2 ppg.
• With three treys against NC State, Drew Spradlin moved into ninth place all-time at Elon with 112 career triples.
• Chris Long is third on Elon’s all-time career assists list with 407 helpers. He leads the team and is second in the SoCon with 4.8 apg.
• Elon’s four scholarship freshmen are all averaging double-figure minutes.

LAST TIME OUT
• After leading for the entire first half, the Elon men’s basketball team could not withstand a strong second-half surge by the NC State Wolfpack, falling 87-72 in non-conference action at the Greensboro Coliseum.
• State shot 62.5 percent from the floor, the highest shooting percentage by an Elon opponent this season.
• Chris Long tallied a game-high 20 points and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the line.
• As a team, Elon knocked down 23-of-24 free throws (95.8 percent).
• Elon managed only eight buckets and eight rebounds in the second half as the Wolfpack outscored the Phoenix 50-31 for the win.

A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS
• Samford pulled off a 68-64 victory at UNC Greensboro on Thursday night.
• The two contests against Samford played at Alumni Gym have been decided by a combined five points.
• Samford and Elon sit among the nation’s best in three-pointers per game. The Bulldogs connect on 9.9 pg and the Phoenix knock down 9.6 pg.