SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for February 11, 2008
ELON 65, THE CITADEL 51
ELON, N.C. ? Adam Constantine posted 13 points and Brett James and T.J. Douglas each chipped in 11 points as Elon staved off The Citadel 65-51 for its second Southern Conference men’s basketball victory in as many games Monday night at Alumni Gym.
In a game that featured seven ties and six lead changes, the Bulldogs (5-18 overall, 0-14 SoCon) built a 23-19 edge on a jumper by Austin Dahn with 1:58 to play in the first half. James responded with a jumper of his own, pulling the Phoenix (9-15, 7-9) within 23-21 at the 1:37 mark before Douglas’ trey with six ticks left gave Elon a 24-23 halftime edge.
Dino Dogan gave The Citadel its final tie at 35-35 on a bucket with 13:11 remaining in the contest. The Phoenix went on a 17-7 run to fashion a 52-42 advantage on a basket by Montell Watson with 4:09 on the clock. Scores by Dahn and Daniel Eykyn brought the Bulldogs within 52-46 with 3:11 to go, but Elon closed the game with a 13-5 surge.
Ola Atoyebi hauled in 10 rebounds, James pulled down seven caroms and Brian Waters collected 10 points, six boards and four assists for the Phoenix while Dahn (game-high 14 points) and Cameron Wells (13 points, game-high 11 rebounds, game-high six assists, game-high three steals) spearheaded The Citadel attack.
Elon outscored the Bulldogs 32-20 in the paint, 13-8 off turnovers, 14-8 off second chances and 16-7 off the bench. The Phoenix won the battle of the boards 38-26 and fired 48.1 percent (26 of 54) from the field ? 55.6 percent (15 of 27) in the second stanza ? to a 37.0-percent clip (20 of 54) by The Citadel. Each team committed nine turnovers.
On Thursday, Elon welcomes Appalachian State to Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. while The Citadel visits Western Carolina at 7:05 p.m.
APPALACHIAN STATE 83, WOFFORD 55
BOONE, N.C. -- Donte Minter poured in 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead Appalachian State University men’s basketball to a 83-55 victory over visiting Wofford on Monday evening at the Holmes Center.
Just two days removed from scoring a season-high 25 in an overtime win versus The Citadel, Minter’s 24 led Appalachian (16-8, 11-4 SoCon) to its biggest margin of victory of the season, besting 23-point triumphs over Lipscomb and UNC Greensboro. Over the past two contests, the 6-8 senior from Salisbury, N.C. has made 17-of-20 shots from the field and 15-of-17 from the free-throw line, a mark that includes Monday’s 6-of-7 proficiency from the charity stripe.
Unlike Saturday, when it had to dig out of an early 14-point hole versus The Citadel, Appalachian never trailed after falling behind 1-0 in the opening minute. ASU shot an impressive 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the floor, including a 50-percent (9-of-18) effort from three-point range. Led by Minter’s presence in the middle, Appalachian scored 36 points in the paint.
Conversely, ASU held Wofford (14-11, 7-8 SoCon) to just 32.8-percent shooting (19-of-58), including just 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from beyond the arc.
A 10-2 run to close the first half gave the Mountaineers a 40-29 halftime lead.
With the Terriers still hanging around midway through the second half, the Apps went on a 14-0 spurt to stretch their advantage to 21 points at 70-49 with under six minutes to play, ending any Terrier hopes of a comeback.
In addition to Minter’s 24, Ryann Abraham, Jeremy Clayton and Eduardo Bermudez all scored in double-figures, with 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively. Clayton had two blocks in the win to become just the seventh player in SoCon history to register 200 blocks with 201 in his career. Drew Gibson led Wofford with 13 while Noah Dahlman and Shane Nichols had 11 and 10, respectively.