Box Score

ELON, N.C. – In a hot-shooting night from Alumni Gym, the Elon men’s basketball team pulled off a 90-82 victory over the visiting Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs in Tuesday night non-conference action. Phoenix sophomore Roger Dugas dumped in a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 from the field, knocking down a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. The forward also pulled down a personal-best and game-high 10 rebounds in the winning effort. Elon moved to 3-5 overall, while Gardner-Webb fell to 6-5 on the season.

“I thought this was our best offensive performance of the year,” noted Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “We are making strides in our motion offense and as a result we got good looks and had good shooters knock down shots. We played the whole game as if each possession was the most important possession.”

Both teams shot above 50 percent in the contest and the squads combined for 19 three-pointers. Gardner-Webb shot a blistering 61.4 percent while the Phoenix nailed 54.5 percent from the field. Elon had a stellar performance from the free throw line, knocking down 18-of-21 from the stripe.

Elon’s Drew Spradlin led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. In the last three contests, the junior guard is averaging 21.0 points and connecting on 57 percent from the field. With three long balls on the night, Spradlin moved into 10th place all-time on the school’s career chart with 99. Chris Long scored 13 points, at one point connecting on three consecutive treys in a span of 95 seconds. The guard took over sixth place on Elon’s career three-point list with 130. Freshman Jack Isenbarger also added 10 points. Gardner-Webb also had four players in double figures, with Jon Moore posting 17 points to lead the way.

“We are starting to click more and not forcing things,” commented Spradlin. “We are moving the ball and everyone is getting involved. We are being more patient and are starting to come together.”

Elon used a 16-5 run that spanned halftime to pull ahead, 52-39 with 17:19 to play. The Bulldogs capitalized on Phoenix turnovers and keyed off an offensive board that led to a Luke Davis bucket from downtown, scoring 10 points in less than a minute to cut the advantage to three, 52-49.

Gardner-Webb extended its run to 16-2, taking its first lead since midway through the first half, 55-54 at 14:04. The lead changed hands seven times, with neither team gaining an advantage of more than five points over next nine minutes.

Dugas’ fourth trey of the night capped a 9-2 Phoenix run that lifted Elon to an eight-point advantage, 78-70, with 5:22 to play. The triple put Dugas over the 20-point mark for the first time in his career.

GWU managed to trim the lead to four, 78-74, but a Spradlin old-fashioned three-point play put Elon on top, 83-76, with under three minutes remaining. Strong free throw shooting closed out the victory for the Phoenix.

Elon racked up 16 assists on 30 buckets with eight of nine players garnering an assist. The Phoenix held a slight 28-27 edge on the glass while the Bulldogs owned the paint, 42-28.

Trailing 12-10 early in the first half, Elon used a 12-2 run that included five Isenbarger points to take a 22-14 advantage at the 12:13 mark. The visitors answered, scoring nine unanswered to retake the lead, 23-22, at 7:49. Spradlin halted the run with a triple and after a few lead changes and a couple of ties, the Phoenix scored 14 of the final 20 points in the half to lead 44-36 at the break.

The Phoenix will look to make it back-to-back wins when it hosts Lynchburg on Sunday, December 12 at 2 p.m. in Alumni Gym.