Elon MBB Takes Down CAA-Leading Charleston, 72-65, To Complete Road Sweep

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball used a 13-2 second half run to take down CAA-leading Charleston, 72-65, on Saturday, Feb. 8.
BOX SCORE | RESULTS

Senior guard Marcus Sheffield dropped a season-high 31 points,12 rebounds and five assists, including going 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the win. Junior forward Simon Wright supplied 10 points and two rebounds, and scored eight points down the stretch to help lead Elon to victory.

Charleston guard Grant Riller led the Cougars with 26 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

HIGHLIGHTS
With the score tied at 44-44 with 11 minutes remaining in the second half, Sheffield found Wright on a fast break for an easy deuce. On the next trip down the court, Sheffield drained a fall-away jumper to push Elon’s lead to five. After a quick basket by Charleston, Chuck Hannah knocked down his second three pointer of the contest to put the Phoenix up by six. Back-to-back buckets by Wright capped a 13-2 burst that left the Phoenix ahead 57-46 with 4:45 remaining in the game.

From there Charleston cut Elon’s lead back down to six, but a perfect 10-of-10 shooting performance from the free throw line during the final 1:44 of the game propelled the Phoenix to victory.

Trailing by one with 15:26 remaining in the first half, Sheffield completely took over the game and scored 10 straight Elon points to help ignite a 17-3 run. Following Sheffield eruption, Hannah and Wooten drained back-to-back triples to put Elon on top by 13 with 8:04 reamining in the opening half.

A late run by Charleston trimmed Elon’s lead down to two, but the Phoenix entered the break on top, 32-30.

NOTES
– Tonight’s win marked Elon’s third straight victory and first road sweep of the season
– The Phoenix held an 11-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
– Elon has won four of its last five games and moved to a perfect 3-0 in the month of February
– Elon knocked down 11 threes on the evening, and went 23-of-29 from the charity stripe
– The Phoenix led by as much as 13, and held the lead for 33:19 of a possible 40 minutes
– Sheffield’s 31 points tonight marked his 15th consecutive double-digit scoring effort for the senior, and his 23rd overall this season
– Wright’s 10 point performance marked his sixth double-digit scoring effort this season.

UP NEXT
Elon will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 13, to continue CAA play against Delaware. That matchup is slated for 7 p.m. at Schar Center in Elon, N.C., and will be streamed live on FloSports.