Players of the Game
Cougars junior forward Willis Hall poured in a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead College of Charleston. Senior guard Andrew Lawrence, who played for Great Britain in the 2012 London Olympics, chipped in 11 points and four assists. Sophomore forward Adjehi Baru collected eight rebounds and added nine points, none bigger than his monster slam that gave the Cougars a 54-52 with 90 seconds remaining, a lead the College of Charleston never relinquished.
Elon junior forward Ryley Beaumount led the Phoenix in scoring and rebounding as he posted 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Junior forward Lucas Troutman chipped in 12 points in the Phoenix loss.
Cougars’ Trent Wiedeman Unable to Suit Up
Cougars junior forward Trent Wiedeman missed his fourth straight game on Saturday night due to a sprained right ankle. He was seen wearing street clothes and a walking boot on the Cougars bench on Saturday. The 6-8 forward injured his ankle in a loss to Auburn on November 16th and has not played since, missing the Cougars contests' against Boston College, Baylor and Charleston Southern. Wiedeman was a preseason All-Southern Conference Team selection and averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 28.3 minutes in three games this season.
Phoenix Start Game on Fire
The Phoenix opened up an early 13-4 lead on the Cougars after making five of its first nine field goal attempts. Sophomore guard Austin Hamilton kicked off the scoring by nailing a trey 41 seconds into the game. A layup by Beaumont came next, before threes ensued from junior forward Sebastian Koch and Beaumont. Hamilton capped off the run with a layup with 14:35 remaining in the half, forcing College of Charleston head coach Doug Wojcik to take a timeout to calm down his troops.
Phoenix Get in Early Foul Trouble
The Phoenix committed seven fouls in the first eight minutes. Starters junior guard Jack Isenbarger and Koch committed two early first half fouls, forcing Elon head coach Matt Matheny to go to his bench early in this contest. Sophomore guard Kevin Blake and freshman guard Tanner Samson saw early action because of it.
Exciting First Half at Alumni Gym
College of Charleston was able to weather the storm of Elon, after the Phoenix jumped out to an early 13-4 lead. The Cougars trailed 17-10 after Troutman slammed a dunk home with 11:52 to go in the first half. But the Cougars scored the next eight points and took their first lead of the night with 8:02 in the first half on a layup by sophomore guard Anthony Stitt. The game was tied at 24-24 with three minutes left in the half but the Cougars scored the final five points of the half and took a 29-24 lead at intermission. Elon lost its lead primarily because they went cold from the field, missing 17 of its final 20 shots in the first half, after making five of their first nine field goal attempts. The Phoenix shot 26.7 percent in the first half. College of Charleston shot 42.3 percent from the field as they nailed 10 of their last 20 shots in the half, after missing five of their first six field goal attempts.
Elon Comeback Bid Falls Just Short at Buzzer
Credit the Phoenix - they were not giving up in this game. The momentum was all on the Cougars' side as they led by nine with six and half minutes remaining before Isenbarger nailed a three pointer from the top of the key, his third trey of the half. A couple of baskets by Troutman pulled the Phoenix within two with 3:43 left on the clock. Samson tied the game after corralling an offensive rebound and then scoring with 2:50 remaining. Elon played great defense through this 9-0 run as the Cougars went five minutes without a point, until Baru emphatically dunked over the Phoenix defense to give College of Charleston a 54-52 lead with 1:30 remaining. With 12.5 seconds to go in the game, the Phoenix had the ball trailing by just two, 56-54. Beaumont was unable to connect on a contested layup but the ball went out of bounds off the Cougars with five seconds left, giving the Phoenix one last chance. But the Phoenix was unable to get a good shot off and Hamilton had to heave a deep desperation three as the buzzer sounded as the Cougars hung on to win.
What It Means
Elon (5-3, 1-1) is now .500 in the Southern Conference. Had Elon won, it would have been in first place in the Southern Conference for 42 days as their next conference game is not until January 12 when the Phoenix play at Appalachian State. Elon fought hard in this one but were unable to complete the comeback. One has to wonder if this game would have gone differently if Isenbarger had not picked up two quick fouls in the first half, as he was limited to just 25 minutes in the game and was not able to catch fire until the second half. The Phoenix will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday Night when it hosts Dartmouth, while College of Charleston (5-2, 1-0) will host No. 5 ranked Louisville on Tuesday night.