Box Score

ELON, N.C. – Drew Spradlin scored a season-high 26 points and Elon got off to a strong start as the Phoenix men’s basketball team earned its first Southern Conference victory of the season with a 67-54 win over the visiting Samford Bulldogs in front of a capacity crowd at Alumni Gym on Saturday afternoon. Elon (7-8, 1-3) built an 18-point advantage at the half, holding the Bulldogs (10-6, 2-2) to seven field goals and outrebounding the visitors 22-10 in the first 20 minutes. The win was Elon's first-ever over Samford.

“We got stops early and rebounded the ball well so we were able to get out and run,” commented Spradlin. “When you have to play against their half-court defense it is really difficult, but we did the things necessary to keep them from getting back and getting set.”

Spradlin did a good job driving to the rim and, as a result, got to the line and knocked down 11-of-14 free throws. As a team, Elon attempted 34 shots from the charity stripe, shooting 79.4 percent for the game. All nine Phoenix players who saw action scored and had a rebound in the contest. Sophomore Roger Dugas had a game-high eight boards to go along with six points in 22 minutes. Freshman guard Jack Isenbarger pulled down seven rebounds and added five points. Elon dominated the glass, 44-25, including a 15-4 edge on the offensive end of the floor.

Samford’s Drew Windler tallied a team-best 13 points while Josh Davis contributed 10 points.

With the game tied 4-4 in the early minutes, Elon went on a quick 7-0 run with buckets by rookies Lucas Troutman, Sebastian Koch and Ryley Beaumont. A Davis three-pointer halted a near five-minute scoreless stretch for the Bulldogs, making it an 11-7 game with 11:55 on the clock. Following two more Samford triples, the game was tied at 13 at the 9:54 mark.

An 8-0 Phoenix streak that featured back-to-back long balls from Dugas and Spradlin jump-started Elon, as the home team closed out the first half on a 25-7 run. Spradlin scored all 15 of his first-half point during the run and Elon took a 38-20 lead into the locker room.

Samford did not go down easily in the second half, and despite a 20-point deficit with 16:43 to play, the Bulldogs outscored the Phoenix 16-5 over the next seven minutes to make it a nine-point game, 45-36, with 9:44 remaining.

The Elon lead would hover between 10-12 points until a Davis trey trimmed the advantage to seven, 49-42, at 5:23. Spradlin would answer with a three of his own and the Elon offense kept pace to win its third game in the last four contests.

“We are really pleased to get the win,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “I felt our assistant coaches did a sensational job preparing our guys to play against not only Samford’s Princeton-style offense, but also their defense. I thought our players really listened and were alert and ready which allowed us to get the big spread in the first half.”

The Elon defense held Samford to 35.4 percent shooting and racked up eight steals. The Bulldogs were shooting 44.0 percent from the field for the season heading into this afternoon’s contest.

The Phoenix will have just one day to prepare to take on the UNC Greensboro Spartans as Elon returns to the Greensboro Coliseum for the third time this year on Monday, January 10 at 7 p.m.