No. 7 Elon 60, No. 2 Chattanooga 57
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Ola Atoyebi’s put-back with 20.9 seconds left lifted seventh-seeded Elon to a 60-57 triumph over second-seeded Chattanooga in the quarterfinal round of the 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
It marked the second time in three seasons the Phoenix (13-18) has reached the semifinals, falling to eventual tournament champion Davidson in that round of the 2006 league tournament. During its five-year SoCon membership, Elon has now advanced to the quarterfinal round four times and the semifinal round twice.
The Phoenix received 13 points and 10 rebounds from Atoyebi, 12 points and eight rebounds from Brett James, 11 points from Montell Watson and nine points from Chris Long. Elon will now face either sixth-seeded College of Charleston or third-seeded Georgia Southern at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on SportSouth.
The Mocs (18-13), who were led by Nicchaeus Doaks’ 12 points, built a 52-47 lead on Keyron Sheard’s two free throws with 6:22 remaining. Long knocked down a pair of three-point field goals and a charity shot over the next three minutes to lead the Phoenix comeback, tying the contest at 54-54 on a trey with 3:33 to play.
Kevin Bridgewaters sank a shot from downtown to put Chattanooga up 57-54 with 2:07 left, but Atoyebi scored back-to-back baskets to give Elon the lead for good at 58-57 with 20.9 ticks to go. James canned a pair of foul shots with six seconds left to ice the victory for the Phoenix.
No. 6 College of Charleston 87, No. 3 Georgia Southern 73
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After a back-and-forth first half that featured five lead changes and two ties, hometown favorite College of Charleston (16-16) stopped Georgia Southern (20-12), 87-73, before 3,832 fans at the North Charleston (S.C.) Coliseum in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament.
Leading 25-23 with 6:24 to go in the first half, the Cougars reeled off 13 straight points to take a 38-23 lead with 2:20 left in the first period. Tony White Jr. scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half as the College of Charleston built a 44-26 halftime bulge.
With the win, coach Bobby Cremins’ team advances to a quarterfinals match-up with upstart Elon. The other quarterfinal game pits Davidson against UNC Greensboro.
Five College of Charleston players scored double figures led by White’s 19. Jermaine Johnson (18), Andrew Goudelock (13), Dustin Scott (12) and Marcus Hammond (10) accounted for 72 of the team’s 87 points.
Matt Fields led the Eagles with 18 points. Louis Graham chipped in 16 and teammate Willie Powers tallied 15. Anthony Marshall came off the bench to score 12.
The lead grew to 24, 54-30, on White’s jumper with 16:24 to go. The Cougars led by as many as 27 points on two occasions in the second half.
College of Charleston shot 60 percent (27-of-45) from the field and outrebounded the Eagles 36-32.