Men’s Basketball recaps for November 27, 2007

 

 

ELON 59, WESTERN CAROLINA 49

ELON, N.C. ? Chris Long pumped in a game-high 17 points and Monty Sanders knocked down a career-high 15 points, propelling Elon to a 59-49 victory over Western Carolina in the Southern Conference men’s basketball opener for both teams Tuesday night at Alumni Gym.   
 
Following two ties and six lead changes, the Phoenix (3-3 overall, 1-0 SoCon) seized an 11-9 edge on a jumper by Sanders with 9:29 to play in the first half. The Catamounts (2-4, 0-1) used a 17-4 run to build a 26-15 advantage on a jumper by Richie Gordon with 1:09 left before the break.
 
Elon went on to score 38 of the contest’s next 52 points, fashioning a 53-40 lead on a move inside by Long with 3:46 to go in the game. During that stretch, Long scored 13 points while Sanders posted nine and Ola Atoyebi put up all eight of his markers on the evening for the Phoenix.
 
Playing in just its second SoCon opener ever at home, the Phoenix improved to 3-2 in league openers since joining the conference for the 2003-04 campaign. The victory marked Elon’s third win in its last four meetings with WCU.
 
It also marked the second time already this season that the Phoenix held an opponent under 50 points. Elon failed to hold any of its opponents under 50 points last season.
 
The Phoenix fired 56.5 percent (13 of 23) from the field in the second stanza, following a 31.8-percent clip (7 of 22) in the first period that produced a season-low 18 points by halftime. Elon ended up with a 44.4-percent performance (20 of 45) for the contest to a 32.2-percent showing (19 of 59) by the Catamounts.
 
Long tallied a career-high 34 minutes, a career-best 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line, a game-high four assists and his first collegiate blocked shot. Atoyebi amassed a contest-best 11 rebounds as the Phoenix hauled in a season-high 41 caroms to 36 boards by Western Carolina. Elon’s Montell Watson swatted a career-high two blocked shots.
 
Brandon Giles forged 14 points and five rebounds while Michael Porrini recorded 12 markers and five boards to pace the Catamounts. Porrini and teammate Brigham Waginger each swiped three steals as did Long.
 
The Phoenix committed 19 turnovers to 11 by Western Carolina. Elon outscored the Catamounts 24-20 in the paint, 11-10 off turnovers and 34-16 off the bench. 

 

 

 

BOWLING GREEN 67, FURMAN 58

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Bowling Green raced out to 37-19 halftime lead and limited Furman to just 32.7 percent shooting for the game to down the Paladins 67-58 in non-conference action Tuesday evening at Timmons Arena.

 

Ryne Hamblet paced three Falcons in double figures with 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 at the foul line.  Nate Miller and Chris Knight added 12 apiece for Bowling Green who shot 50.9 percent (28-55) from the field.

 

After Bobby Austin drained two free throws to cut the Bowling Green lead to 16-14 with 11:55 left in the first half, the Falcons reeled off a 21-5 run to end the half and take an 18-point lead to the locker room.  Otis Polk came off the bench to tally eight of the Falcons’ 21 points in the decisive run.  Furman converted just 5-of-25 field goal attempts in the half and only 1-of-9 from three-point range.

 

Bowling Green led by as many as 22, 41-19, early in the second half and held a 47-26 advantage when Chris Knight scored on a layup with 16:34 remaining.  Furman held the Falcons at bay for the next seven minutes going on a 10-0 run to trim the lead to 47-36 with under 10 minutes left.

 

The Paladins got as close as eight points when Darryl Evans buried a trey to cut the advantage to 59-51 with 2:04 left, but Hamblet made good on all six of his free throw attempts in the final four minutes to hold off the Furman rally.

 

Stanley Jones, the only Paladin in double figures, led Furman with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor.  Evans, Jordan Miller and Alex Opacic each added eight points while Austin led the Paladins with seven rebounds.  Furman converted just 17-of-52 field goal attempts, including

4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc.  The Paladins made 20-of-27 attempts at the charity stripe.

 

The loss drops Furman to 0-5 first the first time since the 1957-58 campaign.  Bowling Green, which will travel to Oakland University on Saturday at 4 p.m., improves to 4-2.

 

Furman begins a seven-game road trip Saturday when it travels to Elon. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.