CHARLESTON, S.C. The Citadel Bulldogs continued their winning streak with a 60-58 victory over Elon Thursday night in McAlister Field House. Offensively, the Bulldogs were paced by Demetrius Nelson with 17 points. Austin Dahn added 11 points, while Cameron Wells collected 10.
Nelson has led the Bulldogs in scoring in four of the last five games and now has 1,048 points to move him to the 22nd member of The Citadel's 1,000 Point Club. John Brown grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the team on the boards for the fourth straight game. He has recorded double-digit rebounds in three straight games.
“Demetrius did a really nice job in the second half,” said Head Coach Ed Conroy. “I got him out of there early because I wasn't pleased with some of the things on the defensive end and the way he was running the floor. He was a little sluggish and may be a little fatigue setting in. We have to fight through that and get past it. I think Bryan Streeter came in and gave Demetrius some minutes to get regrouped and did a nice job.”
The Citadel defeated Elon for the first time in four meetings, breaking their losing streak against the Phoenix. Since Ed Conroy has been at the helm of Bulldog Basketball, he has beaten Elon three times. All three of his victories have come by three points or less.
The Citadel shot 46.2 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line. With only 11 shots at the foul line, the Bulldogs shot 63.6 percent. Coming off of a great 3-point shooting performance at Samford, the Bulldogs hit only five 3-pointers, their fewest made 3-point field goals since the Furman game.
The battle on the boards went to the Bulldogs, who outrebounded Elon, 35-31. The Bulldog defense forced 10 turnovers and held Elon to a 35.4 percent shooting performance. The Citadel was in control of the game since the tip. Elon did not take the lead until the 3:56 mark in the second half when Devan Carter nailed a 3-pointer.
The Bulldogs' largest lead of the game was 12 points with 13:08. Due to the Bulldogs' defense, the largest lead the Phoenix managed to get was a two-point lead. Elon managed to force 12 Bulldog turnovers and had seven steals.
“We did a good job of contesting shots and getting back, but there were several opportunities at the rim that we didn't finish in transition and they would hit a quick one right back on us,” added Conroy. “You have to credit Elon for a good effort,” added Conroy. “I don't know if we beat them at their game, but we won the basketball game and we are pleased with that. We need to get better.”
Brett James and Ola Atoyebi paced the Phoenix offense, each with 15 points. Adam Constantine grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Phoenix on the boards. Elon shot 27.3 percent from behind the arc and 77.8 percent from the stripe. Their bench outscored the Bulldog bench, 32-9.
For the fourth straight time, Elon has had a game decided by 10 points or less. Their 25.9 percent shooting performance in the first half was their worst first half performance this season. Coming into tonight's game, the Phoenix had two consecutive overtime games, but the Bulldogs ended that streak tonight.
The Citadel continues their winning streak, having won four straight games. The Bulldogs improve to 12-10 overall and 7-4 in the conference, keeping them in third place in the South Division. Elon drops to 5-13 on the season and 2-8 in the conference. The last time the Bulldogs won four straight conference games was during the 2000-01 season. Since the start of 2009, the Bulldogs are 7-3. They have won five of their last six games.
“We may have played better up at Elon, but we are sitting here with a loss from that game,” continued Conroy. “It was a tough one to take, but we will take the win tonight. Our guys know that they won this game, but that there are certainly things that they need to work on tomorrow in practice. They will come back with a great attitude and be very productive and focused on Greensboro.”
Southern Conference action continues this weekend for the Bulldogs when they host UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:05 p.m. in McAlister Field House. For more information on Bulldog Basketball, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
