Gordon has 16 points, 8 rebounds, Western Carolina defeats Elon 68-57 in SoCon tournament

Western Carolina beats Elon 68-57, moves to semis

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Richie Gordon had 16 points and eight rebounds and Western Carolina beat Elon 68-57 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament.

The Catamounts (22-10) took control with an 18-0 run midway through the first half, holding Elon scoreless for a span of 8:12. That spurt turned a 15-11 deficit into a 29-15 lead, and Elon never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Harouna Mutombo added 14 points, Mike Williams 13 and Jake Robinson 10 for Western Carolina, which advanced to Sunday’s semifinals against the winner of Wofford and UNC-Greensboro.

The Catamounts outrebounded the Phoenix 44-25.

Elon (9-23), which upset Davidson in the opening round, got 15 points from Chris Long, 13 from Drew Spradlin and 12 from T.J. Douglas. The Phoenix shot just 30 percent from the field, and 11 of their 15 made field goals came from 3-point range.