Elon 60, Furman 58

1/12/2008 5:27 PM

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -Brett James scored Elon's final seven points, including the game winning alley-oop with 35 seconds left to lift the Pheonix over Furman 60-58 in Southern Conference action Saturday.

James' heroics started on a 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the game for a 56-54 Elon lead. His 18-footer 30 seconds later made it 58-54, but the Paladins caught up at 58 on two free throws by Bobby Austin followed by Alex Opacic's hook shot with 1:05 remaining.

After Chris Long fed James for the game winner, Furman's Austin missed a long 3 with three seconds left. Tony Anderson chased down the rebound and sank a 3-pointer that was initially called good, but later negated after referees determined the shot came after the buzzer.

James finished with a season-high 19 and Ola Atoyebi added 13 for Elon (7-9, 5-3 SoCon), which saw a 15-point second-half lead evaporate during a 21-4 Furman run.

Opacic tied his career-high with 20 points for the Paladins (2-14, 1-6), 10 during the 21-4 rally.

That run began after Elon staked its largest lead at 46-31 on Montell Watson's 3-pointer with 15 minutes left. It ended on George Brozos' tip in for Furman's first lead at 52-50 with 4:20 remaining.

The Paladins grabbed their final lead at 54-53 on Justin Dehm's jumper before James took over.