ELON – Earlier this season, Elon graduate forward
Chandler Cuthrell was named Coastal Athletic Association Player of the Week after his outstanding performances against Marshall and Gardner-Webb, where he combined for 57 points. Since receiving this accolade, he has continued to be a dynamic presence for the Phoenix both at the Schar Center and on the road.
Cuthrell entered Elon's Dec. 3 contest against Furman off impressive back-to-back double-doubles, recording 23 points and 11 rebounds at Appalachian State, then earning 24 points and 13 rebounds five days later against Mercer.
Even in the loss against Furman, the forward showed a great amount of perseverance and grit as he put up 11 points in the first 15 minutes, beginning with a gorgeous second-chance dunk that gave Elon the 4-3 lead and got the crowd riled up. He shortly followed that up with back-to-back 3-point jumpers less than a minute apart from each other.
"He scored 11 pretty quickly, pretty efficiently and then teams are going to adjust," head coach
Billy Taylor said following the Furman game.
Despite Furman's momentum and tight defense, Cuthrell still managed to score 25 points, raising his average points per game to 23.1. Even through adversity, Cuthrell proved that he is reliable and an invaluable asset on the court.
"They're trying to do everything they can to limit his production, and he still is able to get 25 for us," Taylor said.
Cuthrell followed up that effort against Furman with an impressive 21 points at Wofford, contributing to the team's dominant 73-52 win against the Terriers. Then, in a comeback win against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Cuthrell scored another 21 points with a team-leading six rebounds.
Cuthrell is averaging 22.7 points per game this season, the third most in Division I. He will look to continue his dynamic scoring output Wednesday night as Elon returns to Schar for a game against Richmond.
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Sydney Spencer at sspencer9@elon.edu.
