Phoenix men enjoy four wins in five games
Colin Donohue / Managing Editor
Scottie Rice spent the last 14 minutes of Saturday’s
game at UNC-Greensboro on the bench – ice on his knee
and boredom on his face. Rice’s uninspired play for
much of the 67-53 loss landed him on the bench, but not
because of his knee.
“Scottie did not play well,” head coach Ernie
Nestor said after the game. “He’s got to play
better.”
Aside from an energy-filled run to close the first half,
Elon sleep-walked through the entire game against a
short-handed Spartans team missing two starters and one key
bench player.
“It wasn’t a very good effort for us,”
Nestor offered, unsolicited by reporters.
But that loss was not representative of Elon’s play of
late. The Phoenix has won four of its last five games, to
improve to a respectable 5-6 record in a Southern Conference
overrun with quality basketball teams.
The team’s impressive run has been spurred by strong
play from Scottie Rice, Jackson Atoyebi – the Southern
Conference’s player of the week last week – and
Matt Nowlin, who has overcome his shooting slump in the last
three games.
“I think we’re playing a little more consistent
than last year,” Atoyebi said. “And I give credit
to the coaches because they stay on us no matter what –
winning or losing. Coach kept beating the same things into
our heads, ‘keep working hard, keep playing defense,
and things will start to turn for us.’ And they
have.”
Elon’s 73-59 victory against The Citadel Monday was
indicative of that defensive-oriented, frenetic pace that
Nestor has tried to instill in his team since his hiring.
The Phoenix sprinted to a 28-15 lead less than 13 minutes
into the game. While The Citadel pulled to within 11 at
halftime, Elon never lost control of the game.
Atoyebi and Nowlin led the Phoenix with 19 and 20 points,
respectively. And the two so thoroughly dominated that Montel
Watson’s three-pointer at the 8:01 mark of the first
half was the first basket by a Phoenix player other than
Atoyebi and Nowlin.
Nowlin and Nestor attributed the win to Elon’s ability
to break the zone, a task that proved difficult at UNC-G.
“We found a way to beat the zone,” said Nowlin,
Elon’s lone bright spot with 24 points against the
Spartans. “We hit a lot of shots, and they got out of
it. The key was getting them out of the zone to start the
game.”
Nestor said his team was more definitive in its handling of
the ball, but the key to the game was Elon’s energy.
“I thought we played a really inspired and emotional
college basketball game,” Nestor said. “When you
don’t have energy, every weakness in your game is
doubly magnified.”
And it doesn’t hurt that Nowlin has recaptured his
shot.
“Confidence is a lot of it,” Nowlin said of his
now pinpoint shooting. “When I started missing a few, I
started pressing. I’ve just been a little more patient
now. I’m shooting the ones that are open, instead of
forcing the shot. Instead of thinking, ‘Gosh, I got to
get this shot up. I haven’t shot in a while.’
“Coach tells me a lot of times you just got to fade
away when you’re a shooter like that, and people will
go to sleep on you. And all of a sudden, you’ll make
it.”
Elon has a tough stretch ahead though, with games against
the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, UNC-G again and East
Tennessee State University, a team that clinched the Northern
Division championship and currently remains unbeaten in the
conference at 11-0.
Phoenix notes: Rice also did not play against The Citadel
with a sore knee. Nestor said he has some swelling, but he
did some mobility training before Monday night’s game.
The results of Rice’s MRI are unknown … Atoyebi
won the player of the week honors after averaging 20.3 points
and eight rebounds a game last week.
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