Men’s Basketball Recaps for November 13, 2007
WOFFORD 80, LEES-McRAE
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Wofford College men’s basketball team defeated Lees-McCrae 80-38 on Tuesday night at Ben Johnson Arena. The game was the home opener for the Terriers, who are now 1-1 on the season. Wofford was led by freshman Noah Dahlman with his first career double-double, scoring 15 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
“We had an opportunity to give a lot of guys legitimate time on the floor tonight,” said head coach Mike Young. “That playing time will be beneficial as the season progresses. The freshman class had a nice night; all three are good players and will only get better. Now we get a chance to take a break and try to get better as a team and rest the bodies.”
Both teams started the game slow from the floor, as the Terriers had a 6-5 lead five minutes into the game. After a jump shot by Lees-McRae’s Modestas Riauka cut the Terriers lead to 8-7, Wofford took control of the game. The Terriers outscored the Bobcats 28-1 over the next ten minutes of the first half.
Back-to-back dunks by Terry Martin and Tim Johnson in the last minute of the first half gave the Terriers a 42-10 lead at the half. In the first half, Wofford was 60.7% from the floor, while Lees-McRae was 3-of-32 for 9.4%.
In the second half, Wofford scored the first five points to extend the lead to 47-10. Lees-McRae cut the lead to 31 seven minutes into the second half, but the Terriers pushed the lead to 40 with 8:35 remaining in the game. A three-pointer by Andrew Bellebaum with a minute to go in the game gave the Terriers a 43-point lead, their largest in the game.
In the game, Wofford shot 56.6% from the floor and Lees-McRae was 18.6% from the floor. Wofford had a 50 to 34 lead on the boards.
All eleven players who played for the Terriers scored in the game. Drew Estep and Shane Nichols did not see time due to injury. In addition to the double-double by Dahlman, career-highs in scoring were recorded by Tim Johnson (5), Drew Crowell (5), Norm Nixon (7) and Terry Martin (10). Career-highs were matched by Corey Godzinski (14) and Andrew Bellebaum (3). The Terriers have now won their last eleven home openers, dating back to the 1996-97 season.
Wofford’s next game will be Saturday, November 24 at Ben Johnson Arena against Virginia-Wise.
ELON 77, ERSKINE 58
ELON, N.C. ? Chris Long poured in a game-high and career-high 18 points and Adam Constantine posted his first collegiate double-double performance with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds ? both career bests ? to pace Elon to a 77-58 non-conference men’s basketball triumph over Erskine Tuesday night at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix (1-1) exploded to a 13-3 lead on a three-point field goal by Montell Watson with 17:09 left to play in the first half. The Flying Fleet (0-1) responded by going on a 14-7 spurt to draw within 20-17 on a three-pointer by Brandon Wright with 10:16 remaining in the opening period.
Elon answered by reeling off the contest’s next 16 points to swell its advantage to 36-17 on a bucket by Monty Sanders ? playing in his first game in a Phoenix uniform ? with 4:17 to go before the break. Erskine used a 15-6 surge to cut its deficit to 42-32 on a jumper by Wright with 19:22 to play in the contest, but could inch no closer the rest of the way.
Long sank seven of his nine shots from the field ? including four of his six attempts from three-point land ? while Constantine canned six of his nine tries from the floor and collected a career-high three blocked shots as Elon improved to 4-1 in home openers under fifth-year coach Ernie Nestor.
Watson put up 12 points, a game-high seven assists and a contest-best three steals. Brett James chipped in 12 points for the Phoenix, netting four of five shots behind the three-point line. Elon’s Ola Atoyebi added nine points and nine boards.
“When we got good shots, we knocked them down,” Erskine coach Mark Peeler said. “I thought we had some good looks in the second half. We needed them (Elon) to shoot bad and they didn’t shoot bad. I’ll give them credit for that.”
The Phoenix fired 50.9 percent (29 of 57) from the floor and 75.0 percent (9 of 12) from the free throw line while the Flying Fleet was held to 40.4 percent (21 of 52) from the field, but shot 81.8 percent (9 of 11) from the charity stripe.
Elon edged Erskine 30-26 in the paint, 23-13 off turnovers and 15-2 off second chances. The Phoenix outbattled the Flying Fleet 38-24 in the rebounding department. Elon surrendered 18 turnovers while Erskine committed 17.
“We started off really well,” Nestor said. “We looked inside ourselves a little bit tonight and got better. Basketball is a game for the mentally tough. You have to be mentally tough to play basketball because everybody knows who you are when you’re out on that court. When you make a mistake, everybody knows who you are. The guy who is successful at this game is a mentally tough person.”
Wright led the Flying Fleet with 17 points and two steals. T.J. Taylor contributed eight points, five assists and two steals for Erskine.