John Gordy and Fred Hazel

Yeesh.

(This exists. So does this.)

SCT: Elon 66, Davidson 59

AP:

CHARLOTTE -- Chris Long scored 15 points, including four clutch free throws in the final minute, as Elon beat Davidson 66-59 on Friday in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament.

Longs free throws were apart of a 6-0 run to end the game after the Phoenix led 60-59 going into the final minute.

The victory moved Elon (9-22), the sixth seed in the SoCon North, into a Friday quarterfinal matchup against Western Carolina. The Phoenix’s win over Davidson avenged a 99-96 double overtime loss on Feb. 27 after the Wildcats hit two 3-pointers in the final 3 seconds.

Observer: Six days after stunning Elon by hitting two 3-pointers in the final three seconds to steal a double-overtime victory at Elon, the Wildcats couldn’t summon the same escape magic. Burlington: That’s what Elon did, never wavering despite the rippling drama and the weight of history during what became a 66-59 first-round upset victory in Davidson’s backyard at the Southern Conference Tournament for men’s basketball. Winston: Matt Matheny embraced Bob McKillop near midcourt at Bojangles Coliseum yesterday, just moments after the student topped the teacher in the opening game of the Southern Conference Tournament. DavidsonWildcats.com: Elon ended a 15-game losing streak against Davidson, including three games in the SoCon Tourney. McKillop: “This team has a lot of tournament experience, but it doesn't have a lot in the roles they're playing now.” Also in his presser: “Matt Matheny has done a fantastic job all year long, and that doesn’t surprise me.” Video: Matt after the game.

A history lesson for the new folks in Charlotte

Terry Holland, in this morning’s piece by Ron Green Jr., which certainly is worth the read: “The burgeoning number of ACC basketball games on television had a tremendous impact on game attendance, particularly for Davidson with its small alumni base. The television exposure began to give every ACC team a recruiting edge over even the best Southern Conference teams, like Davidson. So what Bob McKillop has done in an even tougher environment is the greatest coaching 'resurrection' since Lefty did it in the 1960s.”

And a funny juxtaposition from Larry Brown: “There was nothing about that job that wasn’t appealing. It was just some things that happened that didn’t quite work out.”

One of those sentences is necessarily untrue.

Try again?

Little look at Jake

Ron Green Jr.:

In some ways, the long-term effects of Davidson’s storybook run in the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball tournament are difficult to measure.

In other ways, it’s simple.

Jake Cohen stands 6-foot-10 and weighs 220 pounds. A freshman center from Berwyn, Pa., he leads the Wildcats (7-8, 2-1 in Southern) in scoring, averaging 13.4 points.

Jake: “It hasn’t been anything like what I expected. I wasn’t expecting much.”

Stephen’s choice

McKillop: “I am absolutely certain that the people who will have the most impact on his decision are his mom and dad.”

A lesson

Max: “It wasn’t going to a restaurant that changed things. It was a change in our mindset and the way we see the games.”

Assist from Kenny

Ron Green Jr.:

A day before the South Carolina game, McKillop received an e-mail from Kenny Grant, who played on Davidson’s 2004-05 team that endured a similar disappointment when it failed to make the NCAA field.

In the message, Grant told McKillop that aside from his NCAA experience, playing in the NIT was the most fun he had at Davidson. McKillop read the message to his team.

“The guys saw this could be fun and fun had escaped them,” McKillop said.

They felt like dancing again.

Gameday

Ron Green Jr.: In the aftermath of Davidson’s victory against West Virginia on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden, Wildcats coach Bob McKillop made the point that there is more to his team than just the consistently spectacular Stephen Curry.

The latest chapter

He never stops shooting.

Never.

Not ever.

Back before LAST season, back when I had seen Stephen play in person all of once, back before the second straight 29-win season, back before Gonzaga, Georgetown, Wisconsin and a shot in the air -- back before all that -- I went to Davidson to report a story for Charlotte magazine and this is what the coaches told me: The kid can miss a shot. He can miss two shots, three shots, four shots, five shots, 10 shots. It doesn’t matter.

He never stops shooting.

Lives in the moment. Never about the last one. Always about THIS one.

And so this is what I found myself writing, over and over, in my notebook tonight at the Garden.

He never stops shooting.

Back rim.

He never stops shooting.

Front rim.

He never stops shooting.

In and out.

He never stops shooting.

So there’s more to say about tonight, much more, and I’ll get to it, but right now I kind of want to go meet Meg and Chip and Eddie for drinks at the Playwright on 35th between 5th and 6th.

Just quickly, though, just so we’re clear about what happened here: These guys played at Madison Square Garden tonight and they did so without their best defender. They got out-rebounded 58-32, which is hard to do, and gave up 29 offensive rebounds, which is hard to do, too. They missed seven free throws. A freshman walk-on played nine minutes. Most of the team was in foul trouble most of the night. And Stephen missed more shots than he has in goodness knows how long.

And they won.

On ESPN.

In The World’s Most Famous Arena.

And when Stephen hit that first late three deep from the left wing, and then that second late three deep from the right wing, ESPECIALLY that second late three, this place was nothing but noise for No. 30 and the rest of the kids from the village.

“He is,” McKillop told all the people at the press conference after the game, “a very, VERY rare young man.”

Saturday in Charlotte

Stephen had 44. Again. LeBron was there. Again. But Ben Allison had never EVER done THAT.

The Brothers Curry

“Stephen has the ability to be one of the best basketball players ever to put on a Davidson jersey.” -- Davidson coach Bob McKillop on Stephen Curry in September 2006

“I think he has a chance to be one of the best players ever to put on a Flames jersey.” -- Liberty coach Ritchie McKay on Seth Curry in November 2008

Stephen Curry.

Seth Curry.

Dell’s boys.

Everyone knows the story of Stephen by now. Skinny kid in ACC country. No big-time offers. Now look: from a good mid-major get to Southern Conference star to first-team All-American. One of THE faces of all of college hoops. The questions, of course, all along the way: What didn’t the big coaches see? What did they MISS?

Well, it’s still early, but Seth had 23 points in the first college game he played, he had 26 in Liberty’s upset over VIRGINIA, he had 21 in a double-overtime win over William & Mary …

Is it happening AGAIN?

This is the new wrinkle in the Stephen Curry story: It’s not just Stephen anymore. Seth, too, now. I don’t want to get all crazy here, and oversell, and overshoot, but I can’t help but think that within the story of these two brothers -- the story of this FAMILY -- are some of the most compelling reasons we watch sports.

We want to know what makes some people succeed and others fail. We want to know what makes some of us overachieve when most of us don’t. And we want in the worst way to believe in the things we can’t scout, or measure, or even explain.