Men's Basketball Southern Conference

SoCon Men's Basketball Results, Nov. 28, 2003

Elon 85, Bluefield 52

ELON, N.C. - Elon used 12 players - including 11 who scored - to claim its home opener with a convincing 85-52 triumph over Bluefield Friday night at Alumni Gym. The win marked the first of the season for the Phoenix.

Powered by a 17-4 run to open the second period, Elon (1-3) stretched a 46-29 halftime advantage into a 63-33 cushion on a jumper by Ryan Jones with 11:29 remaining. The Ramblin' Rams (2-6) inched within 67-43 on a free throw by Jamaine Burcke, capping a 10-4 spurt. Bluefield moved no closer and trailed by as much as 80-45 on a fast-break lay-up by Carlos Moreira with 4:11 on the clock.

Elon out-dueled the Rams in field goal percentage (42.9-32.7), three-point field goal percentage (43.5-28.6), free throw percentage (78.9-57.1), rebounds (46-40), assists (22-12), turnovers (14-22) and steals (14-8).

Jackson Atoyebi (18 points, eight rebounds), Scottie Rice (13 points, five assists, four steals), Moreira (nine points), Matt Nowlin (nine points, eight rebounds) and Steven Harvin (nine points, four assists) paced a balanced attack for the Phoenix. Bluefield was led by Jimil Smith (10 points, nine rebounds) and Mookie Holmes (10 points, seven rebounds, four assists).

Elon returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Methodist. The Rams visit Bluefield State Monday for an 8 p.m. contest.

Central Florida 74, The Citadel 60

Charleston, SC - Senior center Roberto Morentin posted 19 points and five rebounds to help Central Florida defeat The Citadel, 74-60, in intercollegiate basketball action Friday evening in McAlister Field House.

"We came out with a lot of energy and played very hard on defense," Central Florida head coach Kirk Speraw stated. "We made some adjustments at halftime and Roberto played a sound fundamental game."

UCF (2-1) fought hard in a see-saw first half in which they held the lead for over 15 minutes. The Black Knights rode Morentin's 11 point first half and took a 37-32 advantage into the locker room at the half.

UCF exploded out of the gates in the second half and went on a 10-2 run to start the period. The Black Knights got a three pointer from Rob Ross and two from Marcus Avant to spark the run.
The Citadel (2-1) couldn't respond from the flurry and trailed by as many as 21 in the second half.

"We felt pretty good going into halftime," Citadel head coach Pat Dennis stated. "Unfortunately we came out very flat in the beginning of the second half and they hurt us. Our defense was poor tonight and we did not execute in our zone."
Central Florida's Josh Bodden posted 11 rebounds and seven points while Ross posted 11 points in the contest.

The Bulldogs got strong performances from sophomore guard Dante Terry and sophomore forward Matt Davis who scored 12 and 10 respectively. Senior forward Max Mombollet led The Citadel in rebound with eight grabs.
The Citadel returns to action on Monday, December 1st against Appalachian State at 7 pm, while UCF returns home to take on the University of Florida on Thursday December 4th at 7:30 pm.

Georgia Southern 86, Savannah State 66

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Elton Nesbitt scored 26 points in just 20 minutes of
action to lead Georgia Southern to an 86-66 non-conference victory over
Savannah State Friday night in Tiger Arena.

Nesbitt connected on eight of his 10 field goal attempts and six-of-seven
free throws in the game. He also grabbed two rebounds and tallied four
steals on the evening.

Georgia Southern (2-1) never trailed as it scored the first five points of
the game. The Tigers (0-4) kept it close for the first seven minutes of
action before Frank Bennett keyed a 13-5 run that gave the Eagles a
double-digit lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the night.
Bennett scored nine points during the pivotal spurt, during which Georgia
Southern increased its advantage from 13-5 to 26-10.

The Eagle lead grew steadily the remainder of the first half, eventually
settling at 47-24 at the half.

Nesbitt, who scored 12 points during 12 minutes in the first half, pushed
the Georgia Southern advantage to above thirty early in the second half as
he keyed an 18-9 run. The sophomore guard scored 12 of the 18 points during
the spurt, which ended with Georgia Southern leading 65-33 with 14:32
remaining in the game.

The Eagle lead grew to as much as 73-39 with 9:33 to go before Savannah
State began to claw back into the game. The Tigers limited Georgia Southern
to just one field goal the remainder of the game, but saw the Eagles
connect on nine-of-10 free throws over the span to seal the win.

Bennett joined Nesbitt in double figures with 16 while Jamal Daniels led
the Tigers with 26.

Georgia Southern connected on a school-record 39 free throws during the
contest, missing just 11 times.

The Eagles return to action Monday, December 1 when they host
Mercer at 7:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

George Washington 76, Appalachian State 62

WASHINGTON - Mike Hall and T.J. Thompson each scored 18 points as George Washington improved to 3-0 by defeating Appalachian State, 76-62, Friday and reach the championship game of the Red Auerbach Colonial Classic for the 10th straight year.
George Washington, which improved to 19-0 in its tournament, led by as many as 17 in the second half only to see the Mountaineers (1-3) cut the lead three times to six points.
The Colonials will face William & Mary in Saturday's title game, after the Tribe advanced in Friday's other game with an 80-60 win over St. Francis (NY).

Jonathan Mitchell scored 13 to lead the Mountaineers, who pulled within six with 4:24 to play after Chris McFarland made a free throw.
Appalachian State failed to score on consecutive trips that could have cut into the lead further, but missed a 3-pointer and a short jumper in the lane.
Hall, however, turned the momentum the other way by grabbing an important offensive rebound, drawing a foul and sinking two free throws with 2:34 remaining to push the lead back to eight. Hall flirted with a double-double with his season-high 18 points and nine rebounds. GW freshman guard Carl Elliott, making his third straight start, dished out a season-high nine assists in the victory.