Feb. 22, 2007

Final Stats

Elon, N.C. - Rallying from down 11 in the second half to pull within four points, 61-57, Western Carolina only managed four field goals over the final seven minutes of the game as the Elon Phoenix pulled away for the 74-65 victory Thursday night in Southern Conference action at Alumni Gym.

The first team to wrap up its regular season schedule, Western (10-19, 7-11 SoCon) will now have to play the waiting game to learn which seed it will earn for next week's SoCon Tournament in Charleston, S.C. If Chattanooga, which hosts UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 pm, wins over the Spartans, then WCU would be relegated to the seventh seed and would face the No. 10 seed just after 5:00 pm next Wednesday (Feb. 28). However, if the Spartans, who are currently third in the SoCon North Division, down UTC, Western would be the sixth seed and would face the No. 11 seed in the first round's night cap at approximately 8:30 pm.

Freshman of the Year and all-conference candidate Nick Aldridge finished with his sixth double-double of the season, leading the Catamounts with 15 points and 12 rebounds despite several shots circling the cylinder but falling out. The South Webster, Ohio, native has now scored in double-figures in 18-straight games, and in 25 of his 28 games this season (89.3%).

Junior guard Negus McKenna broke from his recent slump with 14 points off the bench while his classmate Eric Wilson, who earned his fourth start of the season in SoCon play, posted his second-straight double-digit scoring outing with 10 points. McKenna had only connected on two of his last 17 3-point attempts, but drained 3-of-4 Thursday night in the loss.

Sparked by freshman Brandon Giles, who scored nine of WCU's first 15 points, the Catamounts pulled out to an early eight-point lead, 19-11, capped by a McKenna fast break lay-up with 10:16 before the half. However, Western missed its next six shots from the floor while the Phoenix buried back-to-back 3-pointers as a part of a 12-to-0 run to erase the deficit and claim a four-point edge, 23-19, with 6:25 remaining. All told, Elon used a 19-to-5 run to dig out of its early hole and take its largest lead of the opening 20 minutes, six points, but WCU was able to slice it to one, 36-35, at halftime. After the red-hot start, Giles finished with nine points in the game.

In the second stanza, WCU was able to take two, one-point leads with the last one coming off a pair of Arnold Gore free throws with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game. However, Elon slowly pulled ahead as the Catamounts continued to struggle from the floor. Down 11, 59-48, Western used back-to-back treys from freshmen Jake Robinson and Brigham Waginger to close within five and would eventually close the gap to just four, 61-57, on a third trey from McKenna. Yet, Elon's LeVonn Jordan answered with a trifecta of his own on the ensuing possession to push the lead back to seven as the Phoenix outlasted Western down the stretch, 13-to-8, for the nine-point victory.

Altogether, the contest featured four ties and eight lead changes with the Phoenix leading the final 15 minutes of regulation.

Elon (8-21, 6-12 SoCon) put five in double figures led by a game-high 16 from James Brett on 6-of-15 shooting, while Jordan added 13 points. Scott Grable and Ola Atoyebi each chipped in 11, with Atoyebi adding a team-high eight rebounds, with forward Chris Chalko rounding out the double-digit scorers with 10.

A strong Catamount defensive effort created 15 Elon turnovers while WCU only had eight giveaways. After shooting 42.4-percent from the floor in the first half, the Cats struggled from the field in the final 20 minutes, shooting 11-of-32 (34.4%) for 38.5-percent for the game while Elon countered with 49-percent (24-of-49). Each team hit six 3-pointers, Elon on 16 attempts (37.5%) and WCU on 25 offerings (24%).

Western Carolina will open play in the SoCon Men's Basketball Championship next Wednesday, Feb. 28. Check www.CatamountSports.com or www.SoConSports.com for all of the seedings and pairings for the 85th installment of the conference tournament.