Elon 79, The Citadel 72

Drew Spradlin scored 22 points and Elon held on to beat The Citadel 79-72 on Saturday night, snapping a five-game losing streak.

The Phoenix (11-15, 5-10 Southern Conference) had a 27-point lead, at 55-28, with 12:23 to play and still maintained a 22-point cushion with 6:54 left.

The Bulldogs then outscored Elon 30-14 to get to 73-67 with 55 seconds to go.

Spradlin made four free throws in a row, then Cameron Wells, who led the Citadel with 24 points, quickly hit a jumper to make it 77-69 with 25 seconds to go.

Bo Holston followed with a free throw with 18 seconds left, but the Bulldogs could get no closer.

The Citadel (9-17, 5-9), which has lost four straight, shot 25.8 percent in the first half from the field (8 of 31) and 61.3 percent in the second (19 of 31).

Chris Long added 18 points for the Phoenix, who hit 21 of 24 second-half free throws.