Davidson Dumps Elon in Battle of Division Leaders, 79-60
Friday, January 27, 2006

Box Score

Jason Morton enjoyed one of his finer performances of the season against Elon.

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Ian Johnson and Jason Morton each scored 18 points to lead the Davidson Wildcats to a 79-60 victory over the visiting Elon Phoenix on Friday evening in front of 3,708 fans in Belk Arena. Davidson moved a half-game ahead of Furman in the South Division of the Southern Conference at 6-2 while improving to 12-7 overall. The Phoenix had its eight-game winning streak come to an end, evening its record at 10-10, but remain in first place in the North Division at 6-1.

One game after connecting on just 29.6 percent of their shots, the Wildcats posted their second best field goal percentage of the season at 53.4 percent (31-of-58). The senior duo of Johnson and Morton were big contributors to that mark as the former netted 9-of-14 shots while the latter canned 6-of-10, including 4-of-6 from downtown.

Davidson head coach Bob McKillop altered his starting lineup for the first time this season with sophomore forward Thomas Sander starting in place of fellow sophomore Boris Meno. Meno responded with a solid game, leading the Wildcats in rebounding with eight boards while pitching in nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor.

A short jumper in the paint by Jackson Atoyebi with 13:42 to play in the first half got Elon within a point at 13-12, but Morton beat the defense back down the court for an easy layup, triggering a 10-2 Davidson run. Both Johnson and sophomore Jason Richards hit a pair of buckets during the stretch to put the Wildcats up by nine, 23-14.

The Phoenix cut the deficit back to four before Davidson rattled off another 10-2 spurt, highlighted by three-pointers from Matt McKillop and Kenny Grant.

Ian Johnson taps the ball in with a putback just before the first half expired.

In the second half, Elon threatened to get back into the game after falling behind by 20 at 47-27. Chris Chalko keyed an 11-2 run with a pair of trifectas while Scottie Rice added another. Morton had the answer again, however, with a pair of treys of his own, helping the Wildcats extend their advantage back to 17 at 57-40 with 13 minutes to play. The Phoenix never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

Twice Davidson boasted a lead of 22 points, first with 10 minutes remaining as Richards made a clean steal and finished with a breakaway layup, and again with 4:36 to play on a Brendan Winters three-pointer, which made him just the fourth Wildcat to score 1,700 points in a career (1,702).

Joining Johnson and Morton in double figures for the 'Cats were Winters with 11 points and McKillop with 10. Eight Wildcats registered at least two assists in the game, with Grant and Richards leading the way with four apiece.

Chalko dropped in 18 points by going 6-of-12 on three-pointers to lead the Phoenix. Rice pitched in 15 points while Atoyebi came off the bench to score 13 with a team-high eight rebounds. Elon's second-leading scorer, Montell Watson, was held scoreless as he went 0-of-6 from the floor with six assists and five turnovers.

As a team, Elon managed just 40 percent (22-of-55) from the floor and 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from behind the arc. The Wildcats held the advantage on the boards, 34-30, and grabbed 10 of the final 11 rebounds in the contest.

Davidson will look to extend its home winning streak to 19 on Sunday evening with a non-conference game against Princeton at 7 p.m. It will be Hall of Fame night for the Wildcats as they honor their four new inductees at halftime. Elon has another difficult task ahead with a SoCon game at Georgia Southern on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

# # #