Box Score

ELON, N.C. – The Elon men’s basketball team gave the defending Southern Conference champions all they could handle, but in the end, it was the Wofford Terriers who pulled out the 75-69 victory in front of a raucous crowd dressed all in white at Alumni Gym on Saturday night. The league’s reigning player of the year Noah Dahlman dropped a career-high 37 points to help Wofford improve to 4-5 overall, 2-0 in the SoCon.

After Elon (2-5, 0-2) managed to erase a 10-point Wofford advantage and turn it into a 10-point lead midway through the second half, the Phoenix and Terriers found themselves in a tie ballgame, 58-58, with 5:16 remaining in the game. The game featured 13 lead changes or ties over the last five minutes, with the Terriers winning the free throw battle and using the strength of a veteran team down the stretch to earn the victory.

“We are a young team that needs to learn how to finish games,” explained Elon junior guard Drew Spradlin. “This is not a situation we have been in so far this year. It starts with the veterans and leaders on the team. Wofford is a very good team — they know how to win games and came after rebounds and loose balls especially down the stretch.”

Elon was led by Chris Long’s season-high 21 points as the guard shot 5-of-9 from the floor and drained 9-of-10 free throws. He also added a game-high six assists to his line. Spradlin contributed 18 points and rookie Jack Isenbarger posted 11 points, five boards and four assists. Dahlman added eight rebounds to his career night, including six on the offensive glass.

Rebounding and points in the paint were again statistics that went the opponent’s way as Wofford held a 36-22 lead in the paint and owned a 36-27 advantage on the glass. The Terriers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second-chance points.

After closing the first half on an 8-0 run, a Long bank shot as the shot clock sounded capped a 10-2 Phoenix run to begin the second stanza as Elon opened up a 44-38 lead with 15:59 on the clock. The Elon point guard then extended the home team’s lead to 49-39, banging home his first three-pointer of the game at 13:54. The Elon defense held Wofford to only five points through the first eight minutes of the second half.

A Dahlman bucket cut the Elon lead to 53-46 at 9:01, but Long banked in a triple to push the Phoenix lead back to 10 points. Wofford answered with an 8-0 stretch to make it a two-point contest, 56-54, with 6:36 to play.

Two Jamar Diggs free throws tied the contest at 58 and from there Wofford nailed 11-of-13 free throws with Dahlman being the go-to guy in the closing minutes of the contest.

“We can take positives out of anything,” said Long, “This shows that we can play with anyone in the conference. When you play hard for 40 minutes, you are going to be in games.”

“Our crown was sensational tonight,” Elon head coach Matt Matheny said. “When our student crowd comes out like that, Alumni Gym is electric. It is a sign of great things to come and I look forward to the day you can’t get a seat in our gym.”

In a competitive first half, Wofford got off to a quick start as Dahlman scored Wofford’s first eight points and the Terriers held Elon without a bucket until the 15:49 mark. A layup by Terry Martin gave Wofford a 17-7 advantage with 14:22 on the clock before a Lucas Troutman dunk sparked life into the Phoenix.

Three consecutive Elon three-pointers pulled the Phoenix within five, 23-18, at the 9:48 mark. The Phoenix got within three before the Terriers used an 11-4 run to build a 36-26 lead with 3:54 on the clock. The Phoenix scored the final eight points of the half, including a Scott Grable layup as the horn sounded to close the gap to two, 36-34, at the break.

For the game, Elon shot 45.8 percent from the floor and also connected on a season-best 80 percent (20-of-28) from the charity stripe. Wofford shot 44.6 percent overall, but the Phoenix held the Terriers to a 37.9 shooting percentage in the second half.

Elon will take a brief break from conference play when it hosts Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, December 7 at 7 p.m.