Feb. 7, 2002
Sports
Page 27
Men’s basketball team enjoys first road win,
hands loss to tourney champion Winthrop
NASCAR prepares for
legendary Daytona 500
Annette Randall / Photo Editor
Rick Mast joins Bhn’s NASCAR class in No, 90 Ford Taurus,
Annette Randall
Photo Editor
The Daytona 500, also known as
the "‘Great Americitn Race,” has
kicked off the NASCAR Winston
Cup Season each February since
1959. Teams spend months prepar
ing for the race and the drivers look
forward to the race each year, since
the race is akin to the NFL’s Super
Bowl.
AiDund the time of the race, the
Daytona, Fla., area hosts two weeks
of racing action known as
Speedweeks. During the two weeks,
numerous races are held at various
tracks in the area.
The Daytona 500, the Budweiser
Shootout and the Gatorade Twin 125$
are just a few of the Wiaston Cup
races held at tihe Daytona International
Speedway during Speedweeks.
The Budweiser Shootout, held on
Feb. iO, is a 70-lap (175-mile) race
for drivers who won poles during the
previous season, as well as former
Winston Cup champions and fomier
Shootout winners who are not already
eligible.
Qualifying for the Daytona500 is
held on Fbb. 9. B«:h driver receives
two laps to post his fastest speed, but
only the top two positions are locked
during the first round of qualiiying.
Drivers may try to improve their
tknes during a second and final ixHMd
ofquali^ingonFeb, ll.Thedrivers’
qualifying times are then used to de
termine the starting line-ups for the
The Twin 125s will be held Feb.
14, with the results fix)m both races
determining starting positions three
through 30 for the Daytona 500.
Tire next six positions are deter
mined by the six fastest qualifying
times of drivers yet to make the field.
Positions 37 through 43 are provi
sional spots based on points from the
previous year.
The 44th annmil Daytona 500 will
take place on Feb. 17.1¥acticeswere
held Jan, 7-9 and Jan, 15-17 in prepa
ration for the race. According to tlie
official NASCAR Web site, the five
fastest drivers who practiced were No.
48, Jimmie Johnson; No, 22, Ward
Burton; No. 1, Kenny Wallace; No.
8, Dale Earnhardt Jr.; and No. 24, Jeff
Gordon.
Michael Waltrip won last yetir’s
race. It was his fu^t Winston Cup
points race vwn. However, the victory
was overshadowed by the death of
Dale Earnhardt, Waltrip’s car owner,
following a last lap crash.
ftevious race winners entered in
this year's race aLso include BiUEUiot,
Geoffey BotMne, Dale Jarrett, Ster
ling Marlin and Jeff Gordon.
Tlie payoff for the 2002 Daytona
500 will be the largest in the histoiy
of theevenLThe race’s total purse v/iU
exceed $12 millicMi, with the winner
receiving a minimum of $1,327,030
and the last place finisher receiving a
minimum of $114, Z36.
According to Web sites providing
odds for the Daytona 500 winner, the
drivers with the higher chance to win
are Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and T|e^ Stewart.
Colin Donohue
Sports Editor
The Elon men’s basketball
coaching staff has added 1,300
new recruits to their squad, and
their presence was evident after
the Phoenix’s win over Winthrop
Monday night at the Nest, 71-64.
“The crowd was the difference
in the game tonight,” head coach
Mark Simons said. “I wouldn’t
want to have to come here and
play.”
The enormous crowd stood all
night and remained in the game
until the final whistle. It all came
to a head when they rushed the
floor at the game’s end.
“This was by far the best
crowd since I’ve been here,” se
nior guard Brendon Rowell said.
“[The crowd] kept us going.”
The win over Winthrop was a
huge step for the Phoenix (11-11
overall, 6-3 Big South), but their
confidence-building run began at
the end of January.
On Jan. 26, the Phoenix trav
eled to High Point University still
looking for their first win on the
road this season. They endured a
woeful shooting night (36 percent
for the game) yet only dropped
the contest 73-63.
Freshman forward Gary Marsh
had 16 points to lead the Phoe
nix. Rowell added 13, and fresh
man guard Sean Newton had nine
points in his first career start.
High Point was led by guard
Dustin Van Weerdhuizen’s 26
points and 10 boards.
Elon finally felt the thrill of the
rpad Jan. 29 when they defeated
Liberty University 63-56 for their
first road win.
Senior forward David Hall led
Elon with 13 points and 10 re
bounds. It was his first career
double-double. No other Phoenix
player scored in double digits, but
each player chipped in to grab the
win.
Liberty was paced by guard
Chris Caldwell’s 13 points and
guard Jason Sarchet’s 10.
Liberty’s porous 41 percent from
the free throw line led to their
loss.
“We really started to play the
day before Liberty in practice,”
Simons said. “[At Liberty] we
didn’t play great, but we played
together.”
Elon returned home Feb. 2 to
face Birmingham-Southern Uni
versity. Freshman center Jackson
Atoyebi scored a career-high 14
points to go along with Marsh’s
17-point and Rowell’s 15-point
performances.
Birmingham-Southern played
a tough ballgame, led by Willie
Rashard andT.R. Reed’s 19-point
outputs, but eventually lost 67-
60.
Elon rode their two-game win
streak into the Winthrop match
up Feb. 4. It was the first time
Elon beat the Eagles in Big South
conference play, and it was the
first win over the team since
1997. The win also tied Elon for
second in the Big South with a 6-
3 mark.
“We’re playing with confi
dence and playing smart,” junior
guard Ross Simms said. “We
didn’t play well offensively, but
we came out with a lot of emo
tion.”
Simms, who is playing with a
torn ACL, finished the game with
16 points and seven assists. He
was an impressive 4-for-6 from
behind the arc, at one point sink
ing three straight three-point field
goals.
“The knee feels good,” Simms
said. “I’m getting treatment on it
everyday.”
Rowell came out of the gates
on fire, scoring 14 of his game-
high 21 points in the first half He
was the only consistent offensive
weapon for the Phoenix early in
the game.
However, Winthrop never fell
behind in the first half, their big
gest lead being nine points (30-
21) with 5:22 remaining. Elon
would close the half by
outscoring Winthrop 9-5 to make
the halftime score 35-30,
Elon out-played Winthrop in
the second half, opening with a
13-5 run over the first four and a
half minutes. After taking a 42-
20 lead, Elon would never trail
again in the contest.
Marsh came out of the locker
room at the half with a stronger
effort. He notched eight of his 10
points in the final frame.
The Eagles would make a fi
nal push after trailing 64-58 with
more than two minutes remain
ing.
Guard Pierre Wooten (12
points) hit two free throws, then
made a steal off a Phoenix in
bound pass that resulted in for
ward Tyrone Walker (15 points,
five rebounds) being fouled un
der the basket. Walker knocked
down both attempts to bring
Winthrop to within two points.
Elon stymied the comeback at
tempt when Simms drove the
length of the floor for an easy
layup.
Hall (five points) hit three big
free throws down the stretch to
seal the game for the Phoenix.
Winthrop received other solid
performances from forward Greg
Lewis (13 points, seven re
bounds) and forward Marcus
Stewart (eight points, six re
bounds).
“I’m enjoying it, enjoying it.
We played as a team today and
stayed together,” Rowell said of
the win following the game.
Rowell also said that the team
was focused for the game. He
said that the night before the
game, players were calling each
other in their rooms to ask if they
were in bed.
“Today we responded,”
Simons said. “We came together
and matured.”
They enter a tough South
Carolina swing facing Coastal
Carolina University and Charles
ton-Southern University in 72
hour span.
However, Simons understands
the impact of the Winthrop win
for his team and the conference.
“I was jacked. We did a great
job of playing tired tonight,”
Simons said. “But now we have
a target painted on our backs.”