jj-iday, January 15. 1965
IIABOON AND GOLD
PAGE TUREr
Christians Topple Bulldogs In Lopsided Tilt On Elon Floor
^^1^5 C JLin AM) BE NCII AS ELON TOPS CE?^TUKY MAKK A(;AINST M;S BrdllSOIl Lcilils As Eloil
Records 106-79 Victory
k.
Action on both the court and the bench proved interesting as
the Fighting Christians blasted out with their finest scoring of the
year and topped the century mark in a 106 to 79 victory over the
Atlantic Christian Bulldogs in Elon's Alumni Memorial Gymnasium
on Thursday night, January 7th. Jesse Branson, Elon's All-American
forward, launched very nearly into orbit as he went up for a crucial
rebound against the Bulldogs in the scene at the left. He got the ball
as Bill Tice, Bulldog star, seemed about to yank Branson's leg off
and lea\e with it. Coach Bill Miller is shown above as he took ad
vantage of a brief time out to give instructions to the Christians in
Iront of the Elon bench, lining up some of the strategy that resulted
in the impressive triumph.
Hitting with deadly accuracy
from both the floor and the free
throw line and dominating both
; boards on rebounds, the Christian
L.;igers hit the century mark for
I the second time this season as they
walloped the Atlantic Christian
j Bulldogs 106 to 79 here on Thurs
day night, January 7th.
There were five Elon players in
double figures, with Jesse Branson
banging home 30 points for the top
honors. Others were Art UavLs with
17, Charlie Van Lear with 13, and
Richard Such and Dave Winfrey
with 10 points each. High for At
lantic Christian was Doug Simmon.s
with 17 counters.
1 In hitting the century mark, the|
j Christians jumped off to a quick i
j 16 to 7 lead and were ahead by a i
1 lopsided 58 to 33 margin at the'
1 halftime. Branson got 20 of his 30’
points in that o[)ening half and I
played only ten minutes of the final'
half as younger players took over.!
The Christian outfit profited by'
its accuracy at the free-throw line'
as the Elon cagers hit 36 of 48 char
ity tosses. Four of the Bulldog
players went out by the five-foul
route.
The line-ups:
I’os. F^lon (106)
K—Branson (301
F—Such (10)
C—Van Lear (13)
G—A. Davis (17)
(i—Atkins 18)
Elon 65. Wofford 64.
Klon (HI, Pfeiffer (»8.
Klon 85. Lenoir Khyiie 84,
Klon 65. High I’olnt 76.
KJnn 56. Appalachian 59.
Klon 60. Krskinc 65.
Klon 10(1. liOynla 80.
Klim 71. Kort Kustls 75.
Klon H4. Wofford 92.
Elon 106. A.C.C. 79.
Klon 60, Kas( ('urollna 67.
(Keniuiiiing Canios)
Jan. II—('aiiiplit-ll. uway.
Jan. 14—Guilford, home.
Jan. 16—Catawba, away.
Jan. 18—CamplM'll. honir.
Jan. 23—High Point, home.
Jan. 30—Catauba. home.
Keh. I—.A.C.C., away.
Keb. 3—Frederick, away.
6—West Cartilina. home.
P>b. 8—I’felffer. away.
Kell. 10—Appalachian, home.
Feb. 13—Kast Carolina, home.
Kell. 17—I.enoir Khyne. away.
Feb. 20—West Carolina, away.
F’eb. 24-27—Conference Tourney
at Lexington.
A.C.C. (79)
Jones (41
Half-time: Elon 58, A.C.C. 33.
Elon subs — Hughes 2. Andrew
Itamsey (8) 8. T. Davis 1, Nicks 7, Winfrey 10.
Hobbs 161 Atlantic Christian subs — Tice 10,
Serba I9' A.shworth 9. Harper 4. Samuel 2,
Simmons (17) Johnson 10.
Spotlighting
The Fighting
Christians
By TOM CORBITT
Wintiinp:, One Ami Losing' One . . .
Elon Hits Finals In Fort Eustis Meet
pleased with several aspects of the
Christian play, but there remained
the problem of finding the best
starting five. And to start winning
again, a good performance from
..he guards was necessary in each
game.
Now, after all the trials and trib-
ulations, a new Fighting Christian
those shortcomingi| team has been turned loose on the
unsuspecting world. It all began
The often alleged “poor showing
of our Fighting Christian cagers at
the first of this season may be at
tributed to several factors. Un
questionably, the team has been
erratic. A weakness at the guards
was all too evident, and the for
wards were not consistent. The tearr.
was not functioning as a unit
Along with
and to add to the agony, injuries
crippled the team. Dave Winfre>
knee started acting up again, Ar^
Davis broke a toe, and then bot.i
Charlie Van Lear and Bobby Atkir-i
sustained hurt knees. All of these
were key injuries, and there were
minor hurts too.
Despite these injuries, the team
improved, but it still lost games.
Erskine beat us. The Christians
played well but still lost a close
one, and then the Christians turned
in another fine game and went down
before a powerful Fort Elustis team.
The low point apparently came with
the 92-84 loss to Wofford in over
times, a loss that came after los
ing a big lead in the final two
minutes.
Yet. a quick review of the games
showed that in every game except
the High Point ordeal, the (Sirist-
ians led by at least ten points
with ten minutes left to play in the
battle.
Signs of improvement blossomed
everywhere. Bobby Atkins and
Jesse Branson consistently played
good games. Richard Such turned
in a 22-point performance during the
Christmas tournament. Against Wof
ford. in a losing cause, Elon had
five men in double figures. Among
these was a 20-point effort by Art
Davis. Against Atlantic Christian
Davis proved that it had been no
fluke, and Charlie Van lear moved
into a starting role.
Throughout the shaky beginning
of the season C!oach Bill Miller re
mained optimistic. He was, in fact,
with the Atlantic Christian rout. The
starting five in that game showed
.Atkins. Branson, Davis, Such and
Van Lear. Armed with bandage.s
and tape, the “Cripples’ came roar
ing back to win one of the most
lopsided games in recent years and
score 100 points for the first time
on the home court since 1960. The
team had previously hit the century
mark this year against Loyola at
the Fort Eustis tourney.
Everyone got into the act against
the Bulldogs. Dave Winfrey hobbled
onto the court and paired with fresh
man Tommy Davis to make a sham
bles of the Atlantic (Jiristian press.
Howard Andrew dominated the de
fensive boards and looked like the
Number Thirty we saw against
Lenoir Rhyne. Reid Hughes, the
campus favorite, got into the act.
John Nicks made his debut and
scored the 99th and 100th points.
The most obvious characteristic
of the new team (it surely canno'
be the same team we watched in
December) is that the Christians
now seem to enjoy playing the
game. The stage is set for the
Fighting Qiristians to surprise
quite a few people, including several
C^olinas Conference teams and the
student body of Elon College.
Things ntnist get better. Next to
the bottom in the Carolinas Con
ference is about as low as it is
possible to go, so the time is ripe
for better things ahead
The Christian basketballers cut j
short their Yule season holidays and
battled to the finals of the annual
Fort Eustis Christmas tournament,
I which was a four-team event staged
at the Virginia military post on
December 29th and 38th.
The Elon quint turned back a
Uron'’ outfit from Loyola of Balti
more by a 100 to 80 count in the
opening game of the tourney on
Tuesday night, December 29th, but
the Christians were unable to match
the power-laden Fort Eustis Wheel.-,
in the finals and dropped a hard-
fought 75 to 71 decision to the un
defeated service team.
Elon Tops Loyola
The Christians were off to a slow
start against the Loyola quint, and
the Baltimore cagers led three
times and tied the score twice
within the opening minutes, but
Jesse Branson led an Elon drive
that moved Elon to a 46-31 margin
at haU-time. Branson hit 12 of his
21 points in that opening half.
The Elon basketeers put four men
in double figures in this game, with
Richard Such topping the Christian;:
attack in the game With 22 pointsJ'
with Branson hitting 21, Art Davis
19 and Bobby Atkins 17 for the
victors. The Christians grabbed
down 63 rebounds to cut the Loyola
five off from second shots. Tommy
O’Hara led Loyola with 19 counters.
The line-ups:
The early part of the game was
hard-fought, with Elon moving to a
quick lead and then falling behind
the home team. The Whe^ wer^
ahead by a single point at 42-41 at
half-time, and they widened that
margin early in the last half, onl^
to see Elon climb ahead twice i.
later moments of play. The last
Pos. Elon (75)
F—Branson (2J)
F—Such (5)
C—Andrew (13)
G—Atkins (6)
Ci—A. Davis (16)
Fort Eustis (7S)
Alexander (13)
Brown (8)
Fuaneman (11)
Zagar (22)
Greene (13)
Elon Quint Tops liedrs
In 85-84 Loop Contest
ilulf-time: Fort Eustis 42, Elon
II.
F]lon subs
T. Davis 3, Van
Elon lead was 64-63 with 5:26 left I.ear 9. Eustis subs — Craig 6,
on the clock. Smith 2, Isaacs. Pelzer.
Hitting one of the high spots of
the early basketball season and
hitting the basket with sensational
accuracy, the Fighting Christian
cagers grabbed a brilliant 85 to 84
victory over the Lenoir Rhyne
Bears on the Elon floor on Wed
nesday night, December 9th.
The hot-shooting Elon cagers,
who swished in 35 of 55 tries from
the floor for a blistering 63.6 per
centage for the game, grabbed an
early margin and led all the way
except for one brief moment when
Lenoir Rhyne pulled up to a 45-45
tie early in the second half.
Jesse Branson made good on 13 of
15 attempts from action and burned
the nets for 31 points as he paced
the Christians to their victory, but
he received able assistance from
several of his mates. Howard And
rew bucketed 20 points, Bobby At
kins hit for 19, and Dave Winfrey
caged 10 counters in the Christ
ians' victorious sweep.
(Continued on Pnsr Kour.
DAVIS AND ATKINS STAK DESPITE INJUKIES
Pos. Elon (100)
F—Branson (21)
F—Such (22)
C—A. Davis (19)
G—Atkins (17)
G—T. Davis (7)
Loyola (80)
McCabe (l.'i
Morris (12)
O’Hara (19)
DeVaney (6)
Phillips (12)
Half-time: Elon 46, Loyola 31
Elon subs — Andrew 1, Denhart
6, Hughes 6, Winfrey 1. Loyola
siibs — Lister 4. Maher 7, Law
rence 4. From 1. Brown, Ruane.
Loss To Wheels
he Fort Eustis Wheels, rated one
of the strongest service teams in
the country, chalked their eleventh
straight win as they turned back
Elon 75 to 71 in the championship
finals of the tournament, played on
Wednesday night, December 30th,
but the strong army outfit found
m
Art Davis, left, and Bobby Atkins, right, are two Fighting Christian cagers who have overcome early-
season injuries to play outstandmg roles in Elon basketball battles of recent weeks. Davis, a rugged
.senior from Roanoke Rapids, who goes at either guard, forward or center, missed two games with a
broken toe, but he has been hitting consistently in double figures in other games. Atkins, a nifty sophomore
„ , I guard from Mount Airy, has well lived up to the fine promise he showed as a freshman last winter. He
the Elon defense tough and was (qq (,35 |,it consistently in double figures in many of Eton’s early battles, despite the fact that he has
held under 100 points for only the beg,, playing with an injured knee. Davis and Atkins are two of the four EHon players who were hitting
second time in elevent games. | double-digit averages in latest cage statiBtics compiled last weekend after ten games had been played
I’aiitlier Five
In 76-65 Win
A fine Elon comeback fell short,
and the High Point Panthers chalk
ed a 76 to 65 victory over the
Fighting Christian cagers in a t^r-
olinas Conference battle on the
Panther court on Saturday night,
Uecemlx?r 12th, with the triumpit
enabling the High Pointers to main
tain their leadership in the loop
race.
The Panthers, playing before a
partisan home crowd, rolled for a
quick 15 to 5 lead and then went
on to build a 48 to 35 margin at
the break, and at that point it ap
peared that the High I’oint five
would have an easy time of it in
po.sting its fifth consecutive victory
and its third .straight in the Con
ference.
It was not to be that easy, how
ever. for the Christians came baci
strong after the halftime ant
climbed to within three points al
59 to 56 at one point late in the
."ame. The bid fell short as big
Jes.se Branson went out by the
foul route, and the Panthers moved
ahead again for the final 11-point
victory edge.
Bran-son, who topped the Confer
ence in scoring last year, proved
the big show for both teams as he
racked up 10 field baskets and
eight free throws for 28 points
Other Elon players hitting double
figures were Howard Andrew and
Bobby Atkins, each of whom count
ed 10 for the night.
The Panthers got double-figure
scoring from four of their five
starter*, with guard Barry Smith
leading the way with 24 point*
Steve Tapgenhorst hit 14. Kirck
Stewart 12 and Dale Neel 10 point*
in the winning drive.
’The home-standing High Pointers
were hotter than the proverbial
(Continued od Ptge Four)