ELON, N.C. – Jerald Gillens-Butler's game-winning three with 1.3 seconds left lifted Elon University men's basketball to a 63-61 victory over Winthrop on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at Schar Center.
 
"With the schedule we've had, we've been talking a lot about breaking through and we talked about it again at halftime," head coach Mike Schrage opened. "I thought we handled some adversity in the first half - we didn't play our best and got into some early foul trouble. So, we talked at halftime about this kind of being the launching pad for the rest of our season. We definitely made it interesting, you hope that after getting up by five, six, seven points late that you can put it to bed but just so proud of the team. I felt that we finally defended at the level that we need to defend and we need to continue that going forward."
 
THE RUNDOWN
- Winthrop jumped out to an early 16-4 lead early in the contest, but the Phoenix used an 8-2 run to battle back. Zac Ervin sparked the spurt with his three from the wing, before a Michael Graham layup got Elon back within seven. After a Winthrop bucket pushed its lead back to nine, Torrence Watson drilled his lone three of the game to bring the score to 18-12 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
-The Eagles pushed their advantage back up to nine with just under three minutes to play until halftime, but a late 5-1 run gave the Phoenix momentum heading into the break. Hunter McIntosh scored all five Elon points down the stretch, knocking down a step-back jumper before draining a buzzer-beating three to end the half. Despite the late push, Elon entered the break trailing 30-25.
- The Phoenix came out of the gates firing in the second half, using an 11-1 run to retake the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. Back-to-back layups by Michael Graham ignited the Phoenix spurt before a Chuck Hannah three tied the game at 32. After a Winthrop free throw gave them back a one-point advantage, four more quick points from Graham and Hannah put Elon on top 36-33 with 14 minutes to play.
- Elon pushed its lead to as much as seven with 7:33 remaining in the game but Winthrop battled back to take a one-point lead with nine seconds left on the clock. Coming out of a timeout, the Phoenix inbounded the ball to McIntosh who kicked it out to a wide open Gillens-Butler on the wing. Gillens-Butler rose up and drilled the game-winning three with 1.3 seconds left to secure a 63-61 win for the Phoenix.
 
NOTES
- Michael Graham led the way for the Phoenix, dropping 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in 23 minutes of action. Graham's 15 rebounds tied Elon's Division I program record and is the most individual rebounds in a game for the Phoenix since Hunter Woods grabbed 15 rebounds in a 68-63 win against William & Mary in the 2019-20 CAA Tournament. The performance also marked the second double-double of the season for Graham.
-Hunter Woods chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the contest. Woods has now scored at least 10 points in 28 career games, included six times this season.
- Chuck Hannah notched a season-high nine points, adding three assists and two rebounds in 25 minutes. Hannah finished the night a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
- Hunter McIntosh added nine points and a season-high six assists on the night. Tonight marked the fourth time in five games that McIntosh has logged at least five assists.
- Torrence Watson and Darius Burford combined for 17 points, three assists and two steals in the win.
- Jerald Gillens-Butler finished the night with three points after making the game-winning shot for the Phoenix.
- Elon held advantages in points off turnovers (16-15), points in the paint (26-18) and bench points (17-15).
- The Phoenix held Winthrop to just 19-of-50 shooting from the field (38.0 percent), including an 11-of-30 mark in the first half (36.7 percent).
- With the victory Elon snaps its seven-game losing streak and moves to 3-2 at Schar Center this season.
 
UP NEXT
Elon returns to action this Saturday, Dec. 18, for a 4 p.m. tilt against Shaw at Schar Center. That contest will be streamed live on FloSports.