Sheffield's 31 leads Elon past College of Charleston 72-65

Feb 9, 2020, 01:21 am

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Marcuss Sheffield scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Elon knocked College of Charleston out of a tie for the league lead with a 72-65 victory on Saturday.

Sheffield, a graduate transfer from Stanford, went 11 of 12 from the foul line to match his Elon high but was four points shy of his collegiate high as a Cardinal sophomore in 2016-17.

The Phoenix (9-17, 5-8 Colonial Athletic Association) bolted out to a 27-14 lead in the first half by knocking down six 3-pointers. The Cougars charged back and only trailed 32-30 at the half.

Brevin Galloway opened the second half with a 3-pointer for College of Charleston and 2 1/2 minutes later Grant Riller hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a four-point lead. Sheffield had seven points in a 10-0 run and the Phoenix never trailed again and went up by 12 with three minutes left on three free throws by Hunter Woods.

Elon finished 11 of 28 behind the 3-point arc and 8 of 25 inside.

Riller had 26 points for College of Charleston (15-10, 9-4) and Osinachi Smart 10 points and 10 rebounds.

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