Box Score

The Shot

NEW YORK, N.Y. – It was a performance only suitable for Broadway as Elon senior Chris Long’s fade-away jumper swished through the net with 0.1 seconds on the clock to lift the visiting Phoenix to a 70-69 victory over Columbia University in men’s basketball non-conference action from Levien Gymnasium. Long, who scored a game-high 22 points, scored 11 of Elon’s final 13 points including two three-pointers in the face of Lion defenders. The Phoenix (6-7) won its second straight road game and handed Columbia (7-5) its first home loss of the season, ending a four-game Lion winning streak.

“I’m not saying a fade-away, fall-to-the-ground shot was the plan, but it felt good leaving my hands and went in,” noted Long. “We definitely took steps as a team today. We have learned to keep working and chipping away when we are down.”

An 8-0 Columbia run gave the Lions their biggest lead of the night at 61-49 with 6:14 remaining in the contest. Elon answered as Sebastian Koch knocked down a trey and then followed with three free throws after getting fouled on his next long ball attempt. A Lucas Troutman layup trimmed the advantage to four, 61-57, with 4:21 glowing on the clock.

Columbia’s Brian Barbour ended the Phoenix run with a free throw, but then the Long show started. The point guard converted an old-fashioned three-point play to pull Elon within two, 62-60. After a defensive stop, Long confidently nailed a well-defended three-pointer to give the Phoenix its first lead of the second half at 63-62. Columbia regained the advantage after back-to-back foul shots from Asenso Ampin.

Elon came up empty on its next possession and the Lions’ John Daniels drove in for a bucket and a three-point Columbia lead, 66-63, with 1:52 on the clock. Scott Grable and Daniels traded buckets on the ensuing possessions and Elon was still down three with 1:01 remaining.

Columbia couldn’t find an answer for Long as the newly-nicknamed “Mr. Broadway” dropped another trey through the net over the outstretched hands of a defender, tying the game at 68 with 42 seconds to play. Offensive rebounding by the Lions eventually put Ampin at the charity stripe with eight ticks on the clock. After hitting one-of-two, Columbia called a timeout as it prepared for a final defensive stand.

Elon’s Ryley Beaumont inbounded the ball to Long who dribbled up the floor and to the right side of the lane. With little hesitation despite the sea of white uniforms, Long pulled up and sank the final bucket of the game as he fell to the ground, giving Elon its first-ever win over an Ivy League opponent.

“We could not be happier walking out of here with a win,” commented Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “There is no bigger stage than Broadway. One of the biggest statistics of the game is the fact that we held Columbia to 34 percent shooting in the second half. Columbia is a very good team. We fought hard and battled and the guys in that locker room deserve a lot of credit for not throwing in the towel tonight.”

Long was just one assist shy of a double-double, dishing off a season-high nine assists to go with 22 points and four rebounds. Drew Spradlin knocked down 4-of-6 field goals for 12 points and Troutman dumped in 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Beaumont had a career-high eight boards to lead the Phoenix. For Columbia, Barbour netted 21 points, including 14 in the first 20 minutes of action.

Elon shot an impressive 63.6 percent in the final stanza, shooting 52.3 percent for the game. The normally three-point happy Phoenix only attempted 12 three-pointers in the contest, connecting on five triples. Elon cleaned up its play in the second half as well, turning the ball over only five times compared to 12 miscues in the opening period.

Columbia held the edge for much of the first half as Elon found itself down 18-16 with 11:32 to go before the half. The home team took advantage of six Phoenix turnovers over the next five minutes and used a 10-2 stretch to go ahead, 28-18, at the 6:45 mark.

An Jack Isenbarger three-pointer finally stopped the run and help start a quick 7-0 stretch by the Phoenix, closing the gap to 28-25 with 4:26 remaining in the period. The Lions would push their lead back to as many as eight on two occasions before the break and Columbia headed to the locker room up 36-30.

Columbia outrebounded the Phoenix 20-15 in the first half, including a 7-1 advantage on the offensive glass. The Lions netted 15 points off Phoenix turnovers and scored 18 points in the paint through 20 minutes of play.

Elon scored seven of the first eight points in the final half to close within one, 38-37, at 16:27. Nine unanswered Columbia points capped by a Barbour long ball put the Lions back up 10, 47-37, with 13:51 remaining. Again, the Phoenix would trim the lead to four at three different times over the next five minutes, but Columbia always seemed to have an answer, including an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 61-49.

The Phoenix will return to its home state to host the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Wednesday, January 5 at historic Greensboro Coliseum at 7 p.m.