frll«y. 22, J8e0
Elon Downs Catawba 79 To 77 With Last - Second Basket
LEADS SCOIiLNG FOTt SEASON
T* .
‘Wf0^
Ken Smith, a rugged and sharpshootlng sophomore forward from
the Kentucky hills, has paced the Fighting Christian cagers through
their early season games, chalk ag 2 yj points in the first 15 games
up to January 16th for an average of 18.5 points per game. While
playing in thirteen games, Smith has dropped below 19 points only
t\\'ice, and he has proven one* of the most rugged rebounders in the
Elon line-up. Smith played for Coach Bill Miller’s junior college
guint at Campbellsville last winter and won all-star honors in junior
college circles.
Eion Has Fine Showing
\In Lejeune Tournament
I The Elon Christians, competing
ii their first holiday tournament
^nce 1956, finished sixth in the
!;amp Lejeune Christmas Tourney
^ a field of eight strong teams,
fhe host Lejeune Marines won
[h(‘ tourney with successive wins
over Elon by an 89-74 count, over
Baltimore University by 83 to 75
J|nd over West Virginia Tech by
111 to 108.
With West Virginia Tech rating
cond, other teams were Atlantic
hristian third, Baltimore Univer-
•ity fourth, East Carolina fifth,
jtlon sixth. Western Carolina sev
enth and Huntingdon College
eighth. The Elon team, after los-
B its opener to Camp Lejeune,
me back in the consolation to
feat Western Carolina and then
St to East Carolina in the conso-
tion finals.
Lejeune 89, Elon 74
The Christian basketeers, follow-
the pattern that has featured
•o many games this season, gain'
•d a half-time lead over the Camp
^jeune Leathernecks before go-
down by an 89 to 74 count in
Tpit- first round of the tournament.
*lKen Smith and Richard Conat-
Kr, the Blue Grass bombers, were
jp' pace-setters as the Christians
fcoved to a 42-36 lead by haU-
■bne, but Art Andreoli was the
Wg gun of the Marine attack as
the host team came back for the
^■Polnt victory edge.
I The line-ups;
—Elon (74) Lejeune (89)
S':—Smith 19 Cavalier 13
F—Bell 7 Beeves 8
^ -Burke 8 Rich 4
B—Conatser 24 Andreoli 30
p- -Palkovlcs 6 _ Meade 12
■*|Half-time; Elon 42, Lejeune 36.
lElon subs — Teague 4, Hall 4.
Bawks 2, Andrew, Neidis, Wall,
lejeune subs — Feamside ■ 4,
Jones 5, Latimer 2, Morrow 8. El-
•eU 5.
i 1 Elon 74, West Carolina 70
(Eddie Burke. Christian center,
•ade a three-point play with two
•econds left to clinch a 74 to 70
tory for the Chilstlaiu 0T«r
Western Carolina in the first con
solation round of the tournament.
The Christians trailed 38-36 at
intermission, but Burke hit the
bucket to put the Elon cagers
ahead 65 to 64 with 2:40 left on
the clock, and the Christians froze
the ball the rest of the way as
the Catamounts fouled in an at
tempt to gain possession.
Four Christians were in double]
figures for the game, with Richard
Conatser and Ken Smith hitting
19 and Burke and Bill Palkovlcs
getting 12 each.
The line-ups:
Pos—Elon (74) W. Carolina (70)
F—Smith 19 J. Teague 11
F—Bell 6 — Rudeen 4
C—Burke 12 Elmore 13
G—Conatser 19 Jones 25
G—Palkovics 12 Gibson 13
Half-time: West Carolina 38,
Elon 36.
Elon subs — Hall 6, G. Teague,
Hawks, Neidig. West Carolina subs
— Seal 4, Ehle.
East Carolina 95, Elon 63
The East Carolina Pirates broke
away after a close first half and
ichalked a decisive 95 to 63 vic
tory over the Christian quint in
the finals of the consolation play.
The victory gave the Pirates fifth
and dropped Elon to sixth place.
Ken Smith contribuljed 24
points and Eddie Burke got 11
counters, but they were the only
Elon players able to hit consis
tently. In addition to Riddick,
other Pirate leaders were Don
Smith with 18 and Cotton Clayton
with 17 points.
The Une-ups:
Pos.—Elon (63) E. Carolina (95)
F—Smith 24 — D. Smith 18
F—BeU 5 Baker 8
G—Burke 11 Starrett 9
G—Conatser 7 Riddick 29
G—Palkovics 2 CUyton 17
Half-time: East Carolina 37,
Elon 33.
Elon subs — Hall 1, Teague 3.
Hawks 22, Andrew 8, Neidig. East
Carolina subs — Hall 3, Bowes
3, Respass 2, Fowler 2, West 3,
Lewis, Adcock.
Smith Leads
Elon Scoring
For Season
K'en Smith and Richard Gonat-
■ser, a pair of sharpshooters from
the hills of old Kentucky, are pae-
ng the scoring for the Christian
cagers, who now show a record of
even wins and eight losses in
heir first fifteen games.
With ten games remaining m
their regular season, the Chris
tians have already matched the
number of wins posted by the Elon
^ardwood squad a year ago, for
that squad managed only seven
wins out of 23 games. On the
basis of their showing in recent
games this winter, the Maroop
and Gold outfit should far sur
pass the last year's mark before
‘he 1960 season ends.
In topping the ChrisUans in
"coring, Ken Smith has racked a
^otal of 269 points in playing four-
‘een games, which nets him an
average of 18.5 points per game
Che big forward has made good
on 94 of 198 shots from the floor
for a 47.4 shooting percentage. He
is topped in accuracy only by big
rohn Neidig, who has scored on
24 of 48 shots from the floor for
an even 50 per cent mark.
Richard Conatser, the speedy
■'reshman guard, whom many Elon
Tans have descirbed as reminiscent
of the play of Ben Kendall, one
of Elon’s all-time greats, is the
only other Christian to average
in double figure scoring. Conatser
has 86 field goals and 68 free
hrows for 240 points and an even
16-point per-game average in 15
James.
Little C. G. Hall, who has play
ed a big part In several of the
Christian games this fall, has prov
en himself the most accurate from
the free throw line, having hit
48 of 61 tries for a 78.7 percent
age, but he is pushed close in
that department by Conatser, who
has made good on 68 of 87 char
ity tosses for a 78.2 percentage.
Ken Smith is well ahead of
his mates in the rebounding col
umn, having grabbed down 158
balls off the backboard for an
average of better than 11 rebounds
per game. Eddie Burke and Rob
Bell are the only other Elon play
ers above the 100 mark in re
bounds, Burke having taken down
114 and Bell 107 during the sea
son.
The Christian squad as » whole
has counted 1,118 points in the
fifteen games for a game average
of 74.5 points, while the com
bined Elon opponents show 1,151
(Contloued on Page Four)
HITS SHOT TO DOWN INDIANS
jPawks Gets Late Score
To Win Thrilling Game
Driving from the left corner with berely one second on the clock.
Herbie Hawk, banked a, t#B-foot pu*h shot into the netting to five
the ChrUtlan cagers a n*rv*.41nglln* 7# tp 77 victory over the Ca
tawba Indians here last Saturday night, and seconds later the
dead-eye Kentuckian was getting « free ride on the shoulders of
his mates.
The shot, which hit the bucket almost as the timer hit the bui»-
er, ended a nlp-and^uck North State Conference battle, durlni
which the Christians and Indians were tied thirteen times and
swapped the lead eighteen times, giving Coach Bill Miller's out
fit a victory that boosted them above Catawba and into a tie with
Western Carolina for fifth spot in the Conference standing.
Richie Conatser drew first blood for Elon in the battle with a
^mp shot after twenty-five seconds, but from that time on the fans
could never rest easy as the old
Herbie Hawks, a junior who plays either forward or guard, pump
ed ia a field basket at the buzzer last Saturday night to give the
Elpn basketball squad a thrilling 79 to 77 victory over the Cataw
ba Indians in a North State cage battle on the Elon floor. Hawks
is one of the players who came to Elon this year with Coach Bill
Miller after playing for Campbellsville Junior College last winter.
Elon Defeats Guilford
85 To 64 In Loop Tilt
The Christian cagers got away
to a flying start on their Nortl.
State Conference campaign when
they trampled the Guilford Qua
kers at Guilford on Thursday
night. December 10th, by an 85
to 64 count.
Richard Conatser, freshman
guard ace. gave a 20-po}nt per
formance in pacing the Christians
to this initial victory of the North
State season, which saw the Elon
tossers gain an early lead and
never trail during the entire game.
Other than Conatser. Eddie
Burke was the only Elon player
able to hit double figures, with the
big junior center raclclng 14 points
for the night. However, eleven of
the thirteen Christian players who
High Point Downs Elon
In Well-Played Contest
Showing that they may kick I
the dope bucket all over the court |
before the North State Conference
season is ended, the Elon Chris
tians batled the highly-favored
High Point Panthers right down
to the wire before going down be
fore the Purple and White out
fit 85 to 69 in a battle at High
Point on Thursday night.
Richard Conatser, Elon’s fresh
man sharpshooter form Somerset,
Ky.. was the big gun in an early
Elon attack which literally scared
the pants off the Panthers. Conat
ser hit his first six consecutive
shots from the floor as he paced
Elon to a 15-point lead at one
point in the first half.
The Panthers, thoroughly shell
shocked at that point, rallied and
began to whittle the Christian mar
gin, but Elon still held a 40 to 36
half-time lead. The Christians hit
57.8 per cent of their floor shots
during that first half, but they
cooled off after intermission, and
the Paothers charged back t)o
count 16 points to Elon’s two In
the opening minutes of the second
half and gain a 52 to 42 edge.
The Christians regained their
shooting sights In the final ten
minutes, and the count was still
close until the Panthers staged a
late rally to pull out their 16-point
victory margin in the closing mo
ments. Elon missed seven conse
cutive one-and-one chances which
might have turned the tide.
Conatser closed out the night
with 27 points to lead the Elon
attack, with Ken Smith hitting 17
and Rob Bell 14 points. Dave
Combs was top man for High
Point and for the game with 29
points, with Danny Sewell get
ting 27 and Wolfy Unger 12 couiv-
ters. Bell did a good job under
the boards for Elon, with Sewell
topping the Panther rebounding.
The line-ups:
Pos.—Elon (69) Hl*h Point (85)
F—Smith 15 Sewell 23
F—Bell 14 Short 8
C:—Burke 2 Combs 29
G—Conatser 27 Cheek 5
Cj—P4lkovics 7 Guzlnskl 2
Half-time: Elon 40, High Point
36.
Elon subs — Hawks 2, Neidig
2, HaU, Teague. High Point subs
— Unger 12, Daniel 2, Nolan,
BuchaniHi, Fomyduval.
saw action broke into the scoring
columns at least once.
Elon showed a 34 to 30 margin
at the half-time break, and Guil-
''ord came back to knot the count
it 41-all in the early minutes of
;iie second half. At that point Rob
Bell hit the bucket to put Elon
ahead for keeps.
The rebounding of Burke and,
Bell, ably aided by Ken Smith
and John Neidig, proved too much
for the Quakers in a rough game
that saw 47 fouls called. 26 on
Elon and 21 on Guilford.
The line-ups:
Pos.—Elon (85) Guilford (64)
F—Smith 8 Lineberry 22
F—Bell 6 Key 7
C—Burke 14 Lancaster 3
Cj—Conatser 20 Burwell 20
G—Palkovics 6 Whitley 6
Half-time: Elon 34, Guilford 30.
Elon subs — Andrew 2, Neidig
9, Hodge 4, Hall 6, Wright 3.
Hawks 7. Teague. Wall. Guilford
subs — Elks, Braxton 2, Thrower
2. John 2. Parker, Flippln.
Cage Squad
Turns Back
Pembroke ^5’
Breaking out the most powerful
scoring attack of the early season,
the Fighting Christian hoopsters
came within three points of the
century mark as they swamped
a good Pembroke outfit 97 to 66
here on Wednesday night, Janu
ary 6th. The Christians had bare
ly won an earlier battle by a sln-
?le point.
It was a three-gun assault by
Ken Smith. Eddie Burke and
Richard Conatser which led the
way as Elon grabbed an early
lead and moved to a decisive 43
to 29 half-time advantage. Smith
got 14. Burke 11 and Conatser 10
in this first-half offensive.
Smith and Conatser continued to
hit and were joined by C. G. Hall
and Dewey Andrew during the
fourth quarter. Smith closed with
25 for the night, trailed by Burke
with 13 and Conatser and Hall
with 10 each. Bill Winfree topped
the Pembroke scoring with 25
markers, with three other Indian
players getting 10 or more in the
scoring columns.
The line-ups:
Pos.—Elon (97) Pembroke (66)
F—Smith 25 Winfree 25
^ ®®ll 8 Bowens
C—Burke 13 p„gh lo
n A - wih- iiie line-ups:
S-So^s 8 Catawba ,77,
„ ® Morgan 12'f—Smith 18 Flvnn -4
Half-time: Elon 43. Pembroke F—Bell 8 porb.s 18
C—Neiaig Chain 18
G—ConaUer 25 Medfoid 6
G—Teague 7 sno ,v 4
Half-time: Catawba 46. Elon 41
Elon subs — Burke 10, Hall 9,
Hawks 2. Catawba subs — Rea 7.
Mos9» Hood.
29.
Elon subs — Teague 4, Andrew
6. Neidig 4, Johnson 2, Hall 10,
Hodge 3, Wright. Hawks. Pem
broke subs — Hornsby 4, Capa-
donna 2, Swett 1, Brewlngton,
Lynch, Shust.
Elon Cage Games
Eloa 85, Pembroke 84.
EJen 6S, Wofford 77.
Elon 8t, Norfolk Division 61.
Eton 85, GnUford 64.
Elon 71, Wofford 72.
Elon 62, Norfolk Division 8S.
Elon 69, Hlith Point 85.
Elon 74, Camp Lejeue 89.
Elon 74, West CaroUna 70.
Elon 63, East Carolina 96.
Elon 97, Pembroke 66.
Elon 64, East Carolina 8S.
Elon 70, Appalachian 76.
EIob 80, A.C.C. 67.
EIob 79, Catawba 77.
Remalnloc Games
Jan. 2S—West Carolina, home.
Jan. 27—Lenoir Rhyne, home.
Jan. 3(^—Catawba, away.
Feb. 3—HIch Point, home,
feb. I—West Carolina, away.
Feb. 8—A. C. C., away.
Feb. 10—Appalachlaa, home.
Fefc. IS—East CaroUna, home.
Feb. 18—Lenelr Rhyne, away,
Feb. 20—GnMford, boose.
North State rivals battled for every
point. There were five ties and
nine changes of leadership before
the Indians clinched a 46 to 41
margin at half-time.
Conatser was the big gun for
the Christians in that half as he
rang the bell on eight of eleven
shots from the floor, but Captain
Bob Flynn matched him shot for
shot to give the Indians the inter
mission lead. Elon led in field
goals during that half, but Cataw
ba hit 14 of 16 shots from the
charity stripe.
The Christians needed just 32
seconds to tie the count at 46-aII
in the second half, and they rolled
up a 10 to 1 edge In a spree that
sent the red-jerseyed home squad
ahead at 51-47 after four minutes.
From that point it was once more
a shoot-and-swap fray
Conatser hit two free throws to
make it 77-75 Elon with a minute
left, but Larrell Forbls duplicated
with two charity tosses to knot it
again at 77-all just 25 seconds be
fore the buzzer. That set the stage
for Herbie Hawks' last-second shot
that gave Elon the victory.
Three of each team weie In
double figures for the nit;i; with
ConaUer gelling ;9. Ken Smith
18 and Eddie Bu^.^e 10 foi Hon,
while Flynn had 24 ano Korbu’
and Doug Chalk IK each for the
Indians. Elon led on th^ boards
with 46 rebounds to 27 for Ca
tawba, with Burke pulling down
thirteen rebounds to lead the
Christians.
The line-ups:
Youngsters Lead Scoring
As Cagers Top Bulldogs
The accent was on youth as
three freshmen and a sophomore
all hit double figures to give the
Elon Christians a decisive 80 to
67 victory over the Atlantic Chris
tian Bulldogs here Wednesday
night. January 13th.
The Christians launched a dead
ly shooting attack in the second
half and pulled out their decisive
win after a nip-and-tuck first half
that ended with the Elon tossers
on top by a single peint on a
29-28 count. The red-jerseyed
Christians hit 26 of 59 floor shots
during the battle for a fine 44.1
per cent average. The Bulldogs
hit on 25 of 73 floor tries for a
34.3 per cent mark.
Ken Smith was the big gun for
the Christians in a first half, which
saw the scoring lead swapped
thirteen times and tied five times.
The big Kentuckian hit four field
buckets and as many free throws
in that first half, while Jerry
Fritz was doing some deadly shoot
ing to keep the Bulldogs in the
game.
Richard Conatser. the Somerset
sharpshciMer, and John Neidig, a
36 within the first eight minutes
after intermission. Conatser hit
five consecutive jump shots with
in four and one-half minutes at
one time in that second half.
Smith and Conatser were top
men for the Elon outfit with 19
points each for the night, but
Neidig was close behind with 17
points, and Gary Teague tallied
12 points. Neidig also pulled down
nineteen rebounds for Elon. The
accent on youth appears when It
is noted that Smith is a sopho
more, while (>natser, Neidig and
Teague are all freshmen.
The same accent on youth con
tinues on the AUanUc Christian
side of the ledger, for the Bull
dogs' top man was Jerry Fritz,
a freshman guard, who racked
six field goals and thirteen free
throws for a game high of 25
points.
The line-ups:
Pos—Elon (80) A.C.C. (67/)
F—Smith 19 Sbouldlce '2
^3 Atkinson/ c
C—Neidig 17 Od^ 8
G—Conatser 19 Knok 14
O—Teague 12 Fri^ 25
Half-^lme: Elon 29, Ai|Satic
8-7 Indianian, took over the Elon 1 Christian 28
scoring, lead In the final half as| Elon subs — Han 6, Wi^ght 4
the Christians quickly wldenedjAtlantic Christian subs -L Dunn
their margin to 14 polntl at 50-'9, Ward 2, Newsome, Eaki^