Box Score

PRINCETON, N.J. – It came down to the wire, but the Elon men’s basketball team staved off every Princeton run, including a last second heave, to come away with a 56-55 victory over the host Tigers at Jadwin Gym on Tuesday evening. The win was the third straight for the Phoenix as Elon (3-1) is off to its best start since the 2002-03 season. Princeton dropped to 1-3 on the year.

“This is a great victory for our maturing team,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “A team win — a hard fought, physically tough battle between similar teams. We won it on the defensive end.”

After building an eight-point halftime advantage, Elon saw its lead dwindle to as few as one point on four occasions in the final period. Sebastian Koch drilled a dagger from beyond the arc with 3:57 to play and pushed the Elon advantage back to 56-49.

But the Tigers weren’t going down without a fight, scoring the next six points over a three-minute span to make it a 56-55 game with 40 seconds glowing on the clock. An Elon turnover with 13 ticks remaining put the ball back in the home team’s hands for a final shot. But it was a stifling Phoenix defense that didn’t give Princeton a good look and Douglas Davis’ hoist clanged off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

In the low scoring affair that is typical of games against the Princeton offense, Elon got a team-high 13 points from senior Drew Spradlin. The guard also came away with five rebounds in the winning effort. Koch added 11 points and Egheosa Edomwonyi contributed 10 points off the bench for the Phoenix in 12 minutes of action. Lucas Troutman was a beast on the glass, grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds and blocking three shots.

The Tigers were led by Ian Hummer's 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Davis also added 12 points.

A tightly called game disrupted the flow of the contest, especially in the second half. Princeton was already in the double bonus with over 10 minutes remaining in the game. But, neither team benefited much from trips to the stripe as Princeton managed only 15-of-29 (51.7) and Elon shot 12-of-23 (52.2) at the line.

Elon put up another stellar defensive performance, holding its third straight opponent to less than 33 percent shooting from the floor. The Tigers were 19-of-58 (32.8) and a dismal 2-of-8 (25.0) from downtown.
 
The Phoenix connected on 45 percent from the field and won without relying on the three-point shot. Elon, who averages 10 made three-pointers per game, attempted only seven triples but the four that dropped came at critical times in the contest.

Trailing 7-5 at the 14:48 mark, Edomwonyi hit a jumper to tie the contest. Rookie Austin Hamilton connected on the Phoenix’s next trip down the floor and Elon would never trail again. With the game tied at 15, an Edomwonyi layup started a stretch of 13 unanswered points as the Phoenix opened up its biggest lead of the game at 28-15 with 3:40 to go before the half. Princeton managed to make a little run, but Elon still maintained a 33-25 advantage heading into the locker room.  

Defense was the key in the final 20 minutes as Elon pushed back against every Princeton surge. Elon overcame foul trouble and got big minutes from Brett Ervin and Edomwonyi under the basket. The Phoenix had the answer each time the Tigers got within one and never relinquished the lead.

Elon will look to extend its winning streak to four straight on Friday evening when the Phoenix heads down the road to Reynolds Coliseum for a battle with NC State.