Elon holds off Bulldogs' rally

ELON, N.C. — The Citadel Bulldogs could not get off one last shot, and their comeback attempt at Elon fell short in a 56-54 loss Saturday night at Alumni Gym.

Elon forward Ola Atoyebi hit 8 of 9 shots and scored 20 points as Elon (2-4, 1-1 in the Southern Conference) snapped the Bulldogs' modest win streak at two games.

Trailing 51-43 with 4:51 left, the Bulldogs outscored Elon 11-5 the rest of the way, and trailed by just 56-54 after Cameron Wells' layup with 9 seconds left.

Atoyebi missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5.5 seconds left, and Wells drove toward the other end of the floor. But a double-team from Atoyebi forced Wells to pull up, and the Bulldogs did not get off a shot before the final buzzer.

Citadel coach Ed Conroy said it's his philosophy not to call a timeout to set up a shot in that situation.

"We work on that in practice, and they all know what to do in that situation," Conroy said. "But we were unable to get to the basket. We stopped and tried to make a pass, and it was just unfortunate."

Senior center Demetrius Nelson led the Bulldogs with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Guard Austin Dahn also had 14 points, and Wells added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

"They double-teamed Demetrius, and he was able to find a way," Conroy said. "He had three assists against the double teams, and that's a great sign for us."

With a 1-1 road swing through North Carolina, The Citadel fell to 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon. After playing four games in seven days and traveling from Mexico to Charleston to North Carolina, the basketball team gets a much-needed break for exams next week and does not play again until UC Davis comes to McAlister Field House on Dec. 15.

Elon opened up a 51-43 lead at 4:51 on a jumper from Devan Carter. But Nelson hit two free throws and Dahn banked in a 15-footer and nailed a 3-pointer to bring the Bulldogs within 51-50 with 3:03 to play.

Carter hit a free throw and guard Chris Long drove the lane to push Elon back up by 54-50, but Wells answered with 1:26 left to make it 54-52. The Bulldogs forced two Elon misses, but the Phoenix claimed an offensive rebound each time, setting up two free throws by Monty Sanders for a 56-52 lead with 15.6 seconds left.

The Bulldogs had their hands full with Atoyebi, a 6-8, 220-pound senior from Chicago, in the first half. Atoyebi hit all six of his shots from the field and scored 15 points in the first half to pace Elon to a 27-24 lead at the break.

Atoyebi scored 11 of Elon's final 12 points of the half, converting a 3-point play with 27 seconds left for the halftime margin.

That play capped a tight first half in which neither team led by more than three points. The Bulldogs' last lead of the half came at 3:39 on Dahn's layup on a pass from Tyrell McDowell, good for a 24-21 margin. Elon scored the final six points of the half.

{ET