Montell Watson poured in a contest-best 22 points to lift Elon to an 87-86 Southern Conference men's basketball win over the College of Charleston in double overtime Wednesday evening at Alumni Gym. The game featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes.
The Cougars (12-15 overall, 7-10 SoCon) went on a 16-8 run to trade a 12-10 deficit in for a 26-20 advantage on a lay-up by Jeremy Simmons with 10:10 left to play in the first half. The Phoenix (11-16, 9-10) answered with a 10-3 spurt to close to within 30-29 on a jumper by Brett James with 6:38 to go before the intermission.
Charleston responded by going on a 10-3 surge of its own to extend its edge to 39-33 on a basket by Dustin Scott with 2:08 remaining in the period. At the 1:44 mark, T.J. Douglas canned a three-point field goal as Elon drew to within 39-36 for the eventual halftime difference.
Jermaine Johnson knocked down a shot to open the second-half scoring, putting the Cougars up 41-36 with 19:21 on the clock. The Phoenix proceeded to go on an 18-6 tear to pull ahead 54-47 on a fast-break bucket by Atoyebi with 12:49 remaining in regulation.
Trailing 64-57 with 6:50 to go, Charleston started a 10-1 run to go up 67-65 on an inside move by Johnson with 2:27 on the clock. After Atoyebi dropped in a basket to even the count at 67-67 with 28 ticks to go, Andrew Goudelock sank a jumper with seven seconds left that gave the Cougars a 69-67 edge.
Atoyebi's put-back of James' missed trey as time expired knotted the score at 69-69, forcing the first overtime period. The Phoenix opened the extra frame on an 8-2 spurt to build a 77-71 advantage on a pair of free throws by Watson with 1:16 left.
Goudelock's three-pointer at the 1:08 mark cut the difference in half and Antwaine Wiggins' trey tied the contest up at 77-77 with 29 ticks to play, sending the contest into a second overtime segment.
After the third tie of the period, Johnson netted a pair of charity shots to give the Cougars an 86-84 edge with 21 seconds to go. Watson drove the lane for a lay-up, leading to an old-fashioned three-point play to award the Phoenix the final lead of the night with three seconds left.
The Phoenix won the battle of the boards 37-36 and committed just nine turnovers to 11 by the Cougars. The Elon bench outscored the Charleston bench 24-6.
For the Phoenix, Watson dished out a game-high six assists, Adam Constantine hauled in a contest-best 10 rebounds, Atoyebi posted 15 points, James chipped in 13 points and six caroms and Brian Waters tallied 11 markers and six boards.
For the Cougars, Johnson put up 20 points and eight rebounds, Goudelock registered 18 markers and six boards, Tony White recorded 17 points and four assists, Wiggins scored 17 markers and Scott added seven caroms.
The Phoenix will play host to Tennessee-Martin in an O'Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU BracketBusters event at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Cougars return to action Monday with a 7 p.m. visit to UNC Greensboro.
