GAINESVILLE, FLA. – Despite outscoring Florida by 10 in the second half, Elon University men's basketball's late rally came up short against the Gators on Tuesday, Nov. 9, as the Phoenix fell, 74-61, in Gainesville.
 
"I'm disappointed that we let the game get away from us in the first half," head coach Mike Schrage began. "I am proud of our guys continued fight in the second half, but there's no consolation. We will have to grow up quickly and continue to get better."

THE RUNDOWN
- The early stages of the game were a battle, with both sides trading scores over the opening few minutes. After Florida pushed its lead to six early in the contest, Jerald Gillen-Butler found Michael Graham wide open in the paint for an easy dunk. A few minutes later, Hunter Woods drilled his first triple of the season to cut the Gators lead to 12-11 with 13:21 remaining in the first half.
- The two teams went back-and-forth for the next few minutes before a late first-half surge by Florida caused Elon to enter the break down 47-24.
- With the Phoenix trailing early in the second half, Torrence Watson nailed four quick free throws to bring the score to 61-40. After both defenses got stops on the next few possessions, Hunter McIntosh drained a step-back mid-range jumper to cap a 6-0 Elon spurt that cut the deficit to 19.
- Elon continued to fight until the final buzzer, as the Phoenix finished the game on a 10-2 run in the final four minutes of action. After four quick points from Graham and Watson trimmed the deficit to 17, Graham scored on three of Elon's final four possessions to cut the deficit to 13 with less than a minute to play.

NOTES
- Michael Graham led the way for Elon, dropping a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Graham's 16 points tonight marked the first double figure scoring effort of his collegiate career.
- Hunter McIntosh chipped in 15 points in a team-high 32 minutes of action. McIntosh has now scored at least 10 points in 35 of his 54 career games at Elon.
- Torrence Watson and Darius Burford combined for 19 points and six rebounds in the loss. Watson finished the evening with 10 points in his first career game at Elon, while Burford posted nine points in 22 minutes of action.
- Freshman Sam Sherry scored his first collegiate points in the contest, finishing the night with three points and a rebound in just over seven minutes on the court.
- In their returns from injury, Jerald Gillens-Butler finished with two points and three assists, while Zac Ervin posted three points and five rebounds.
- Elon outscored Florida 37-27 in the second half, holding the Gators to a 32.1% field goal percentage in the final 20 minutes.
- The Phoenix held a 16-10 advantage in bench points and a 9-7 advantage in steals.
- Elon is now 2-1 in season openers under Schrage.
 
UP NEXT
Elon returns to action on Friday, Nov. 12, when it hosts Randolph in its home opener at Schar Center. The contest will be streamed live on FloSports with tip-off set for 7 p.m.