SoCon Championship Central
Game 4: #4N Elon 85, #5S The Citadel 74
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In the final game of the first round of the Southern Conference Men's Tournament, the North Division fourth seed Elon Phoenix relied on double-figures from four players to eliminate The Citadel, the fifth seed from the South Division, 85-74.
For the Phoenix, Chris Long poured in 21 points, Jack Isenbarger added 16 while Drew Spradlin and Ryley Beaumont scored 15 and 14, respectively. Long also dished out 10 assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
Elon put together a 10-0 run midway through the first half to erase a six-point deficit and increased the margin thanks to a three-point buzzer beater by Sebastian Koch to take a 42-35 lead halftime.
After intermission, The Citadel did not have an answer for Elon's second half 50.0 percent shooting from the field (12-for-24), including 71.4 percent from behind the arc (5-for-7). The Bulldogs pulled as close as six points in the second half, but the Phoenix made important free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Austin Dahn led all Bulldogs with 20 points. Cameron Wells contributed with 19 and Zach Urbanus had 18. The Citadel concludes it season at 10-22.
Elon (14-16) will face No. 1 from the South Division, College of Charleston, tomorrow night in the quarterfinals at approximately 9:15 p.m.
Game 3: #3S Furman 61, #6 Samford 48
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Furman, the South Division's third seed, stormed out to 24-4 lead en route to a 61-48 win over the sixth-seeded Samford from the North Division in the first round of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at McKenzie Arena.
The Paladins took advantage of Bulldogs' first half mistakes, scoring 17 points off of only seven turnovers. Leading the way for Furman was Jordan Miller with 23 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, which included 4-for-6 from three-point range. Brandon Sebirumbi also contributed with 10.
Despite only connecting on a season-low four field goals in the first half, Samford only trailed 32-18 at the half largely in part to the Bulldogs going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe.
Samford pulled within nine points at 46-37 with 8:09 left in the game, but could not inch any closer as the Bulldogs could only muster one more field goal the rest of the game, a three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining.
Drew Windler was the Bulldogs' top scorer with 10.
The Paladins advance to the quarter final round on Saturday to take on the North Division No. 2 seed Chattanooga. The game is set to tipoff at 7 p.m.