ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's basketball team dropped its Colonial Athletic Association opener to College of Charleston, 66-54, on Saturday, Dec. 31, at Alumni Gym.
 
Elon (8-6, 0-1 CAA) put three players in double figures, led by 14 points from Tyler Seibring. Dmitri Thompson pitched in 13 points and nine boards while Brian Dawkins finished the day with 12 points. Charleston (10-4, 1-0 CAA) was led by Jarrell Brantley's 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting and nine rebounds.
 
CofC's bench outscored the Elon reserves, 19-6, but the Phoenix won the battle on the glass, 35-34. The Phoenix struggled to find a rhythm from beyond the arc, shooting 3-of-20 in the setback.

"It's a disappointing way to end the year and to start league play," said head coach Matt Matheny. "I think you've got to give Charleston a lot of credit because I think they played well. I thought that when we got behind, and then you start the second half behind and miss some shots early in the second half, we didn't respond and handle that with the resolve that you need. That's how the game got away from us."

HIGHLIGHTS 
The Cougars led by 10 points at halftime, 35-25, after knocking down seven three pointers in the game's first 20 minutes. The balanced Cougars attack saw five players make one or more triple in the opening stanza, as Brantley led all scorers with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor.
 
Charleston began the second session on an 18-4 run to take a commanding 24-point lead with 11:55 to play following a Marquise Pointer jumper made it a 53-29 game.
 
Elon brought the deficit down to 12 points late in the game, but the Cougars kept the Phoenix at arm's length to secure the New Year's Eve victory on the CAA's opening day of games.
 
UP NEXT
The Elon Phoenix returns to action on Monday night, Jan. 2, at UNCW. The game will be aired on CAA.TV.