Feb. 9--ELON -- Jet-quick guard Josh Bonney prefers to take a rapid-fire approach when dealing with the sting of defeat.

"I think the best medicine for a loss is to play as soon as you can," the Elon University freshman said. "Even if it's a pick-up game, you're ready to get back on the court as soon as you can." Adhering to that sort of mindset should serve Elon well tonight when the Phoenix returns to action about 48 hours after the finish of a momentum-squashing setback.

Coming home off back-to-back road victories, Elon's good vibes dried up in Saturday's 77-63 loss to Appalachian State, a deflating result that interrupted Elon's string of six games decided by six points or fewer. "We've got no time to worry about it or sulk," senior forward Monty Sanders said. "We had a bad game, but we'll bounce back. We'll be fine." Sanders cited confidence and a sense of urgency as qualities that appeared to be lacking during critical stretches Saturday.

He added that the Phoenix seemed to take too much of "a sigh of relief that we were back in it" after opening the second half with a 9-2 run that trimmed its deficit to 41-38.

At the heart of the matter, though, were three glaring issues.

Elon endured a rash of disasters during some ventures into the teeth of Appalachian State's full-court pressure. The Phoenix also shot just 14-for-27 on free throws and got outrebounded by 22.

"The plays we didn't finish, they did. The free throws we didn't make, they did," coach Ernie Nestor said. "You just can't time after time after time miss shots around the basket when the team you're playing against is converting those. When you get in there and you get to the rim and you don't convert the free throws, it disappoints you. You're leaving a lot of points on the table." Furman, which arrives for tonight's game at Elon, didn't beat a Division I opponent until Jan. 26.

But now Furman is armed with back-to-back victories after climbing out of an 18-point hole in the second half Saturday and clipping Chattanooga 72-70.

-----

To see more of the Times-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thetimesnews.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.