BOSTON – Elon University men's basketball came back from a 12-point deficit, using late runs in both halves and limiting Boston University to just 35.3 percent shooting in the second half, to earn a 77-69 road victory over the Terriers on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 17, inside Case Gym "The Roof".
 
Steven Santa Ana led the four Elon (7-4) players that finished in double figures with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Additionally, Tyler Seibring added 15 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Dainan Swoope scored 14 points, while finishing with six assists and grabbed six rebounds. Dmitri Thompson rounded out Elon's double-digit scorers with 12 points. Sheldon Eberhardt contributed with seven points and a team-best seven assists off the bench.
 
"I liked our tough-mindedness from start to finish," said head coach Matt Matheny. "It was particularly helpful when we got off to a rugged start, but our guys stayed with it and grinded out a very good road win."
 
BU (4-6) was led Cedric Hankerson scored 22 points in 27 minutes for the Terriers. Will Goff added 12 points, while Walker Whyte added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
Elon held the Terriers to just 35.3 percent shooting from the floor in the second half, including 28.6 percent from three. The Phoenix got into its flow offensively finishing with a season-best 22 assists on its 27 made baskets. The maroon and gold also tied a season-high with 15 three-pointers against BU.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Seibring opened the game with back-to-back three pointers to put the Phoenix ahead 6-2 at the 19:06 mark. BU answered with an 11-2 run to take a 13-8 lead with 16:11 remaining in the half following Javante McCoy's layup.
 
The Terriers outscored the Phoenix 18-11 over the next eight minutes and took its largest lead of the game, 31-19, with 8:29 remaining in the half.
 
Trailing by 12 points with just over eight minutes to go in the half, Elon responded by outscoring BU 23-9, which included a 13-4 run over final five minutes of period after trailing 36-29, taking a 42-40 lead at the break. The Phoenix shot 51.6 (16-31) percent from the floor and 56.3 (9-16) percent from three in the first half.
 
Elon opened the second half making its first two baskets to force BU to take a timeout after the Phoenix took a 46-40 lead with 18:29 on the clock. The maroon and gold would maintain its lead for the first 11 minutes of the half as BU only got within a point twice.
 
Boston University took its first lead of the half 60-58 following Nick Havener's layup with 8:03 on the clock. The Terriers would lead one more time in the contest. Dawkins made a layup to tie the game 60-60 and Hankerson's free throw gave BU a 61-60 lead with 6:26 to play.
 
Elon would create separation over the next five minutes with a 12-2 run, which included 10 unanswered points over the last four minutes of the stretch, to take a 73-63 lead with 1:21 remaining.
 
The Terriers cut Elon's led to as much as six-points over the final minute, but the Phoenix closed out the contest to earn the eight-point victory.
 
NOTES
- Elon posted season-highs of 22 assists and 15 three-pointers against the Terriers on Sunday afternoon.
- The Phoenix remains undefeated coming off a loss this season. Elon improves to 4-0 overall this season after a loss.
- With the victory, Elon has now won four of its last five and six of its last eight games.
- Following today's game, Dmitri Thompson (909) and Tyler Seibring (906) are each less than 100 career-points away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau.
- In addition to his team-high 19 points, Santa Ana posted a season-high of five made three-pointers and also tied a career-high with five assists.
- Elon improves to 5-0 this season when outrebounding its opponent. The Phoenix won the battle on the boards 37-33 against the Terriers.
- The Phoenix earned its first true road win of the season with its victory at Boston University.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix continues its three-game northern road trip on Tuesday evening, Dec. 19, with a matchup against Canisius at 7 p.m.