The mens basketball team finishes the regular season this week with home games against the Western Carolina Catamounts tonight and the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday.

The Phoenix [6-21, last in the North Division], are coming off four straight road games in which they went 1-3. The one win at Georgia Southern was the first victory over Southern since 1961.

The Phoenix defeated both Western Carolina and Appalachian State on the road earlier this year. Western Carolina [10-18, third in North Division] is coming off four straight losses while Appalachian State [22-6, first in North Division] is headed in the opposite direction, having won five straight games.

The Catamounts are led by freshmen Nick Aldridge who averages 18.1 points and grabs over six rebounds per game. Other key players are guard Antonio Russell and forward Arnold Gore. The Phoenix should score on the Catamounts, who give up an average of 73.7 points per game [ppg], ranking them second to last in the SoCon.

The Mountaineers have had an outstanding season, including a huge win last week at Wichita State. Guard D.J. Thompson anchors a strong starting five of all upperclassmen. The Mountaineers lead the North Division in both offense and defense, scoring 76.1 ppg, while giving up only 67.5 ppg. To win, Elon needs to shoot a high percentage and out rebound the Mountaineers, which were the keys to beating them last time.

The Phoenix continues to struggle on the offensive end averaging only 61.9 ppg. While Elons top three scorers, Brett James, Chris Chalko and LeVonn Jordan, have played well at times, their lack of consistency has hurt the team in creating an every game scoring threat.

We have to get more guys to contribute on a consistent basis, said Head Coach Ernie Nestor. We need one more guy each night to have a big game and we need to execute better at the end of games.

Defensively, Nestor feels the team is improving and giving them a better chance to win close games.

We have been working with the defense and they have played well, Nestor said. Adam Constantine took three charges against Chattanooga and Jordan played great defense on one of the best three point shooters in the nation.

The Phoenix remains a very young team with six freshmen, but according to Nestor they are learning.

The young guys are making progress, they have become more consistent as the season has gone on, Nestor said.

Once the regular season is complete, the team will travel to Charleston, S.C., for the SoCon Championship.

Reporter: Brad McLaughlin - 02/22/07