Mocs 85, Elon 76

This game feels good.

Part of it is our constant struggles with Elon. We were 9-8 all-time against them heading into this game. Barely leading the series against them after we nearly always finish ahead of them in the standings is so frustrating. But this year, we beat the Phoenix. Twice. And it feels good.

The Mocs were ahead by double digits in the first half. Just like against UNCG on Thursday, they let the lead completely evaporate. But the Mocs pulled away in the end.

How about Keegan Bell? He collected seven assists and had one turnover. On Thursday, he had eight assists and just one turnover. That is a remarkable stretch for Bell. He has turning into one of the top point guards in the conference, and he may be turning into one of the better ones in the country. He just is not turning the ball over anymore. Throw in the 15 points he had tonight, and the 23 he scored against UNCG, and is there anything Bell is not doing for the Mocs? He even had four rebounds tonight. Bell is the most important player on this Mocs team. No question asked.

That's not to say that Omar Wattad and Ricky Taylor are important. Wattad played just 29 minutes tonight (showing that his back may still be bothering him a bit), but he scored 19 points. He halso had five rebounds and five assists. Taylor followed up his 41 with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

Dontay Hampton played some of the most important minutes early in the game. He played 10 minutes, scored four points, two assists, two steals, and a rebound. The boxscore really does not quite indicate how well Hampton played in the first half. Hampton was huge in the first half.

Jahmal Burroughs is something else. I know most people don't seem to like him as much as I do. But I love his effort. He played just nine minutes- but collected eight rebounds, including six offensive boards. He can't make free throws (36% heading into tonight and went 0-2 tonight), and didn't make a shot tonight, but his eight rebounds were important.

DeAntre Jefferson also collected eight rebounds. He scored just six points, but those rebounds were huge.

Now onto Chris Early, who had a huge night. He scored 21 points. He made 7 of 10 from the floor, and 2 of 3 from three point range. He made 5 of 8 from the free throw line. He also had four rebounds and two assists. Early has really turned into a very good player, and one of the Mocs most important players.

Want to hear how much of a "TEAM" this has become? They had 29 field goals tonight. They had 23 assists. This team is remarkable in that way. They were 69th in the country in assists per game heading into this game with 14.7 per game. They may move up some after tonight in that category.

The Mocs also collected 42 rebounds- 13 more than Elon. The Mocs dominated the boards. They were 22nd in the country in rebounds heading into this game, and could move up more after this performance. In the same way, they scored 85 points, and could move up from their 91st rank in scoring offense.

This team is slowly developing into a good team. Sure, they aren't great. Sure, there are major flaws, and they don't know how to hold onto a lead. But they know how to win close games. And they obviously are a team, in every sense of the word. They need to take that to another level over the next couple of weeks as they go on the road and look to clinch the North Division and put themselves in the best position possible for the postseason.

I know I may be in the minority- but I like this team. I like this team a lot. They are really starting to grow on me.

GO MOCS!