Ola Atoyebi collected his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Elon used a stifling first half defensive effort en route to a 59-53 Southern Conference win over College of Charleston before 4,011 at Carolina First Arena on Saturday.

Elon (6-13, 3-8 SoCon) held Charleston to a 1-of-19 shooting effort and grabbed a 26-2 lead with 2:47 left in the first half.  Brett James had 13 points in the opening stanza as the Phoenix enjoyed a 28-8 lead at intermission.  The eight points represents the lowest scoring output for a Charleston team in one half in the shot-clock era.  The Cougars hit 3-of-22 field goal attempts in the first half.

Charleston (16-5, 8-3) cut the lead to 1-point on two occasions in the second half, the last at 45-44 with 3:54 left.  Chris Long, who finished with nine points and four assists, hit a jumper and a 3-pointer that extended Elon's lead to 50-44 with 3:05 remaining. Down the stretch, the Phoenix hit 6-of-7 free throw attempts to secure the win.

James finished with 15 points while Adam Constantine added nine rebounds for Elon.  Charleston got 11 points from Donavan Monroe (Waxhaw, N.C.) and 10 points from Tony White, Jr. (Knoxville, Tenn.)  Jermaine Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the Cougars with a game-high nine rebounds.

For the game, Elon shot 42.9 percent connecting on 21-of-49 from the field.  Charleston shot 32.8 percent for the game hitting 19-of-58 from the floor.

The Cougars play at Western Carolina at 7 p.m. on Thursday.  Elon travels to Georgia Southern for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Thursday.