By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The best stretch of the season came pretty much at the same time for Elon’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Suddenly, these teams don’t look like pushovers in the Colonial Athletic Conference. Neither team had won a conference game until late January.
The men’s team was winless against Division I opponents until stringing together a three-game winning streak. After beating Drexel at home, the Phoenix went on the road and topped Stony Brook 69-55 and Northeastern 74-73.
Elon swingman Max Mackinnon was named CAA Freshman of the Week for the second time. He averaged 17.5 points in the past two games by shooting a combined 15-for-22 from the field and providing six assists and five rebounds per game.
Following a game Wednesday night at North Carolina A&T, Elon embarks on a stretch of three home games in six days when William & Mary visits Saturday afternoon. There’s Monday night’s game against Hampton that will be televised by CBS Sports Network and next Thursday night’s rematch with College of Charleston, which was nationally ranked when the teams met last month in South Carolina.
Five of Elon’s remaining six games come against teams occupying spots in the lower half of the CAA standings.
For the women, the Phoenix has won three of its past four games. It began with Raven Preston’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat host Delaware 63-60 on January 27.
After a loss at Drexel, Elon’s women knocked off first-place North Carolina A&T 63-56 last Friday night at Schar Center before winning 62-49 on Sunday afternoon at College of Charleston.
On Monday, Preston, a guard, was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row and the fifth time this season. She’s averaging 12.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
The Elon women have a three-game homestand beginning Friday night against William & Mary and then the following weekend vs, Monmouth (February 17) and College of Charleston (February 19).
Photos compliments of Elon Athletics
