Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – It was the Phoenix that pounced early and then withstood a late Bulldog run as the Elon men’s basketball team earned a 79-72 victory over The Citadel at McAlister Field House in Saturday night Southern Conference action.

Elon (11-15, 5-10) led by as many as 27 points in the final period before the host Bulldogs (9-17, 5-9) made a late push on strong second half shooting to close the gap to as few as six with just under a minute to play. The Phoenix continued an impressive night from the line for all 40 minutes to hang on for the victory. Elon shot 24-of-27 (88.9 percent) from the stripe as it snapped a five-game losing skid.

Junior guard Drew Spradlin led the way for Elon with 22 points, while veteran point guard Chris Long came up one assist short of a double-double with 18 points and nine helpers. Ranking second on Elon’s all-time assist list, the native of Charleston,W.Va. is averaging 7.5 apg in the last eight contests.

The Bulldogs’ Cameron Wells had a game-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting while adding 10 assists and eight rebounds on the night. The Citadel racked up 20 assists on 27 baskets and shot 61 percent in the second stanza to forge a comeback. Austin Dahn also dumped in 22 points in the contest.

Up 6-4 early following a Lucas Troutman bucket, Elon went on a 15-5 run that included back-to-back Terrance Birdette three-pointers and gave Elon the 21-9 advantage with 11:47 remaining. Long had four assists on the six buckets during the run.

Bryan Streeter got The Citadel back on the board with a layup, but Spradlin answered with another Elon long ball to make it a 24-11 game at 10:03. The teams were rather quiet from the field over next four minutes, but then the Phoenix three ball rolled again.

Long found Sebastian Koch for a trey and then after a defensive stop, put the ball in the hands of Ryley Beaumont who knocked down another triple for the Phoenix and gave the visitors a 32-15 lead with 5:15 to play before halftime. Koch scored 11 off the bench for Elon.

Back-to-back Bulldog buckets trimmed the lead to 32-20 with 2:14 on the clock, but Elon would not allow another Citadel point before the break. A couple Phoenix free throws followed by a Long three-pointer as the final seconds ticked off the clock gave Elon its biggest lead of the half, 38-20, after 20 minutes of action.

The Phoenix scored the first five points of second period, including knocking down its eighth three of the game to go up 43-20 before The Citadel could get on the board. The lead would hover around 20 points over the next six minutes before a Spradlin jumper capped a 7-0 Elon run that gave the visitors their biggest lead of the game at 55-28 with 12:23 remaining. Then it became the Wells and Dahn show as the duo scored 35 of the final 44 Citadel points in the contest.

The Bulldogs began slowly chipping away at the lead, using a 20-10 run that spanned nearly six minutes. One of Dahn’s five three-pointers made it an 11-point game, 67-56, with 2:41 remaining. Elon managed only two baskets during the stretch.

The Citadel’s next three buckets came from beyond the arc as the Bulldogs got within six, 73-67, with a minute remaining. The Phoenix connected on 11-of-12 from the line over the final two minutes to close out the win.

Elon shot 47.9 percent from the field and hit nine three-pointers, but struggled to get the long range shot to drop in the final frame as the Phoenix finished with a 9-of-31 (29.0 percent) showing from downtown. Every Phoenix player tallied a rebound in the contest with Beaumont’s seven boards leading the way.

The Citadel looked like a different team in each half as the Bulldogs shot only 8-of-31 (25.8 percent) in the opening period, but shot a blistering 19-of-31 (61.3 percent) in the last 20 minutes.

Elon will return to Alumni Gym for its final home game of the season when it hosts UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. Come early to honor Elon seniors Chris Long, Scott Grable and David Meyer in their final contest at Alumni.