Box Score

ELON, N.C. – Six Phoenix players scored in double figures and Elon drained 16 buckets from downtown as the Phoenix rolled by visiting Lynchburg College in non-conference men’s basketball action from Alumni Gym on Sunday afternoon. With back-to-back victories, Elon improved to 4-5 on the season as it prepares for a Southern Conference date with Chattanooga next Friday night. Lynchburg dropped to 5-5 overall.

The 16 three-pointers were the most since Elon nailed that many against Chattanooga in January last season. Freshman Jack Isenbarger came off the bench to lead the Phoenix with 15 points on 4-of-6 from long range. Junior Drew Spradlin continued to be sharp from the field, connecting on 5-of-9 field goals for 14 points in 22 minutes of action. Terrance Birdette and Chris Long each chipped in 11 points and the two combined for nine assists. Birdette also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Rookie Sebastian Koch netted a personal-best 11 points and Roger Dugas scored all 10 of his points in the second half. Lynchburg’s Austin Chillemi was the lone player in double figures for the Hornets with 11 points.

The Phoenix shot above 50 percent from the floor and better than 80 percent from the foul line for the second straight contest. Elon also tallied 23 assists on 36 buckets for the game with 10 players earning an assist.

Elon had the hot hand in the opening stanza, raining eight three-pointers in the first 20 minutes of action. Before the 16-minute mark, the Phoenix made four buckets inside the arc and then only hit four baskets worth two points over the remainder of the half. A Spradlin triple lifted Elon to an 11-4 advantage with 15:39 on the clock. The Hornets closed the gap to 14-13 at the 13:08 mark before Elon used an 8-2 stretch capped by an Isenbarger trey to move ahead, 22-15, at 11:39.

A quick 7-0 run by Lynchburg tied the game at 22 with just over 10 minutes to go. With the score knotted at 27, Spradlin and Long combined for three consecutive long-range baskets and jump-started a 20-5 streak to end the half. The Phoenix took a 47-32 lead into the break.

Eight of Elon’s 16 made buckets in the first half came from downtown and the Phoenix racked up 12 assists on those baskets. The home team knocked down 48.5 percent of its shots from the field, including an impressive 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Lynchburg shot 41.2 percent from the floor in the first part of the contest.

It wasn’t long before Elon opened up a 20-point advantage, scoring seven of the first nine points of the final period. More daggers from downtown help the Phoenix push the lead to 76-45 with 10:47 remaining. A Lucas Weavil layup capped Elon’s biggest lead of the night at 42 points, 102-60, as the clock wound down.

While Elon hit another eight treys in the second half, the Phoenix was much more effective in the paint, scoring 22 points under the basket compared to only eight by the Hornets. Elon also netted 22 points off 15 Lynchburg turnovers, racking up nine steals in the final 20 minutes.

For the game, Elon nailed 36-of-68 (52.9 percent) field goals and 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) three-pointers. Lynchburg connected on 26-of-65 (40 percent) and managed only 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Elon held a 39-32 rebounding advantage.

The Phoenix will prepare for a stretch of three games in six days when it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs on Friday, December 17 at 6 p.m. Elon will be looking for its third straight win over the Mocs having earned victories in both meetings last year.