Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – It felt like Alumni Gym instead of the Alumni Hall as chants of “Let’s Go Elon” from a large maroon and gold contingency helped lift the visiting Elon men’s basketball team to a 73-58 victory over the host Navy Midshipmen in Wednesday night non-conference action. Elon (5-7) closed the game on a 22-5 run and used a dominating performance on the glass to earn the win in its final game of 2010. Navy dropped to 4-9 heading into the holiday break.

Navy’s Jordan Sugars converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Mids their first and only lead of the game, 53-51, with 5:25 remaining in the contest. Elon answered on the ensuing possession as Drew Spradlin buried one of his four three-pointers on the evening to put the Phoenix back on top, 54-53, and spark a 17-1 visitor run.

Elon got offensive rebounds its next three trips down the floor and converted each one into points. One of the biggest daggers of the night came after Chris Long was forced to take a long three as the shot clock wound down and Roger Dugas grabbed the long offensive rebound. Dugas kicked the ball to rookie Sebastian Koch who drained a triple and gave Elon the 59-54 advantage with 3:28 remaining.

With the Mids on their heels, the Phoenix forced turnovers and created points. Lucas Troutman put a cap on the 22nd Navy turnover, slamming home a dunk for a 65-54 Phoenix lead at the 2:21 mark and closing the door on the chance of a comeback. Troutman and Koch combined for twelve of the 17 points during the run.

“We are very excited,” Elon head coach Matt Matheny said. “It was a war, a battle, a hard-fought victory. There were a lot of grins in that locker room tonight. Our Achilles heel has been our rebounding and we challenged our players to be the team that would win the loose balls and get on the glass. Last year we came up here and they really beat us up. We looked at that on film and our players decided that wasn’t going to happen tonight.”

Four players scored in double figures for the Phoenix, led by Spradlin’s 14 points. Long netted 13 and added a season-high eight assists. Elon had 16 assists on 24 buckets. Koch racked up a career-best 11 points and five boards and Jack Isenbarger scored 10 points. Sugars was the lone player in double digits for Navy with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

Elon had its best performance on the glass all year, specifically on the offensive end of the floor. The Phoenix grabbed 19 offensive boards, led by Dugas’ six. Dugas pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in the contest as Elon dumped in 22 second-chance points compared to only one by the Midshipmen. The Phoenix outrebounded Navy 46-27. Elon also converted 23 Navy miscues into 27 points.

Elon came out shooting the long ball in the first half as seven of its 11 buckets came from downtown. Holding an 11-9 advantage at the 12:42 mark, Elon went on an 11-2 run that included two Long treys to take a 21-11 lead and force a Navy timeout at the 7:59 mark.

Helped by eight straight Spradlin points, Elon pushed its lead to 30-18 with under two minutes to go before the half. As the clock wound down, Navy forced a Phoenix turnover and a Sugars’ dunk cut the Elon led to nine. After an empty Phoenix possession, Sugars held for the last shot and drained a triple at the buzzer to make it a 30-24 game after 20 minutes of action.

Navy made it 11 unanswered points after scoring the first five points of the second stanza to make it a one-point game, 30-29, with 18:11 to play. Elon clung to its advantage until Navy tied the game at 36 after Sugars converted a three-point play at 15:46.

With the game knotted at 38, an Isenbarger long ball capped a 9-2 Phoenix run and gave the visitors a 47-41 edge with 9:50 remaining. Navy responded with a 12-4 run of its own to go on top for the first time in the contest, 53-51.

Elon shot 38.1 percent in the game while Navy knocked down 46.3 percent of its attempts. The Phoenix nailed 13 three-pointers — Elon ranks third in the nation with an average of 10.1 long-range baskets per game. Spradlin moved into a tie for ninth all-time at Elon with 109 career three-pointers.

The Phoenix will have a 10-day break before it returns to the Northeast for a bout with Columbia on January 2 at 2 p.m.