GAME NOTES: The Appalachian State Mountaineers will try to begin a new winning streak tonight, as they host the Elon Phoenix in Southern Conference action at the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers are coming off their first loss in nearly a month, as they were downed at Chattanooga, 89-77, on Saturday. The defeat snapped a season-high seven-game win streak, as ASU fell to 12-7 overall and 7-3 in conference play. The Mountaineers though, now return home, where they have gone 3-1 against leagues foes thus far. As for Elon, it has struggled of late, losing five of its past six outings, including three in a row. The team was last in action on Thursday, when it was outlasted by Western Carolina, 72-60. With the loss, the Phoenix dipped to 7-12 overall and 5-6 in SoCon play. With regard to the all-time series, ASU owns a 43-40 edge over Elon and that includes a 31-8 mark when playing at home.

Three-point shooting was the difference as Elon connected on just 6-of-19 attempts from long distance compared to a 12-of-19 effort by Western Carolina in a 72-60 setback. The Phoenix were also completely dominated on the boards, 37-20, and that includes a 13-5 difference on the offensive glass. Ola Atoyebi paced the team in defeat with 23 points and five boards, while Montell Watson and Brett James chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively. For the season, Atoyebi tops the roster in both scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) and he is also shooting 59.2 percent from the floor. James ranks second to him with 10.9 ppg and 4.7 rpg, while Watson adds 10.8 ppg and 3.1 apg to the mix. As a unit, though, Elon has lacked consistently at the offensive end of the court, scoring only 62.5 ppg and shooting just 31.9 percent from three-point range.

The Mountaineers shot just 39.0 percent from the floor and they were outscored at the foul line, 28-19, in an 89-77 setback at Chattanooga on Saturday. ASU knocked down 12-of-30 three-point attempts to stay close, but its 15 turnovers resulted in 22 points for Chattanooga. Donald Sims led the charge for the Mountaineers with 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting from downtown. Kellen Brand posted 17 points, while Donte Minter had 13 points and eight rebounds. For the season, Minter leads ASU in scoring at 12.9 ppg and he is also ripping down 6.5 rpg. Sims nips at his heels with 12.6 ppg and he is lethal from long distance, converting 47.9 percent of his attempts. Brand chips in with 11.1 ppg for the Mountaineers, who are averaging 73.8 ppg on a solid 48.4 percent shooting from the floor this season.

ASU is the more talented and better shooting team here and it should be able to get back to its winning ways against a slumping Elon squad tonight.