“I thought we came into the game with the right mindset,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “We had a lot of respect for Hampden-Sydney which was well-deserved. As the game progressed, we got better both offensively and defensively, but there is still plenty of work to be done. Hopefully this is one of many steps in the right direction.”

Elon produced well-rounded scoring and rebounding efforts. Twelve players posted at least one board with senior Chris Long and sophomore Roger Dugas each grabbing a career-high eight rebounds. Long added seven points and contributed four assists. The guard is only seven helpers away from moving into the third position on Elon’s career assist list. Troutman posted seven boards and freshman Jack Isenbarger dumped in six points, dished off a personal-best eight assists and pulled down five rebounds. H-SC’s Ru White led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Elon jumped on top 10-6 at the 17:18 mark of the first half before stepping up its defense and holding the Tigers without a field goal for the next four minutes. The Phoenix rolled out to a 24-9 lead with 11:30 on the clock and never looked back. Elon gave up only 19 first-half points, holding the visitors to a 28.6 shooting percentage from the field. Hampden-Sydney did not connect on a three-pointer in the opening period and Elon took a 40-19 advantage into the locker room.

While the Phoenix shot under 40 percent in the opening stanza, the home team was dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Tigers 31-18 and dumping in 14 second-chance points.

The Phoenix scored 14 of the first 18 points in the final period to boost its lead to 54-23 at 13:46. Elon’s biggest lead of the night would come on a Sebastian Koch three-pointer, giving the Phoenix a 35-point advantage, 64-29, with 9:17 remaining in the contest. A late 16-6 Tiger run to close the game provided the final margin of 76-56.

Elon, the Southern Conference leader in assists per game, had 17 assists on 28 buckets. The Phoenix had six blocks in the contest, three of which came from Troutman. The freshman now has seven swats on the year. Elon continued to struggle from the free throw line, managing only 11-of-22 from 15 feet.

Following the Thanksgiving holiday, Elon will travel to College Park, Md. to meet the Maryland Terrapins on Friday, November 26 at 8 p.m.