DURHAM N.C. – Elon University men's basketball fell to No. 2 Duke, 87-56, on Saturday, Dec. 18 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
 
"I'm glad we had this opportunity and that it all came together," head coach Mike Schrage opened. "Even with the result I wouldn't have passed this up. Also want to thank Shaw University for allowing us to take this opportunity and we hope to have a chance to play them in the future. This was something we just couldn't say no to. Coach K taught me so much in my nine years at Duke but one of the main things was the ability to adapt – and that's what we had to do. We were heading to practice to get ready for Shaw's defense, but got a call and decided to change course and play Duke. I think it would've helped us some if we had a little bit more time to prepare for their pressure a little bit but Duke is a great team so give them credit."
 
THE RUNDOWN
- After the Blue Devils opened the scoring with a Mark Williams bucket down low, Darius Burford evened the score with a pullup jumper from the right side of the paint. After a bucket by Jerald Gillens-Butler cut the deficit to 6-4, Wendell Moore Jr. knocked down a three-point attempt from the left corner to push Dukes lead up to five. Moore Jr. followed that up with a driving layup that gave the Blue Devils an 11-4 early as Elon called its first timeout with 16:29 remaining in the opening half.
- Coming out of the timeout, Chuck Hannah found Gillens-Butler on the perimeter and the redshirt senior converted his shot from deep to close the gap to 11-7. After a pair of long balls highlighted a 10-0 run by the Blue Devils, Hunter McIntosh dished to a wide-open Michael Graham for the uncontested layup. The play snapped Elon's three-minute scoring drought before Duke's Joey Baker pushed the lead to 23-9 with his score just before the 11:35 media timeout.
- A McIntosh pullup jumper from the right side of the lane cut the deficit to 24-11, but the hosts turned a blocked shot into a fast-break bucket as the Phoenix used another timeout with 9:25 to play in the opening stanza.
- Coming out of the 7:40 media timeout, Gillens-Butler made the most of a trip to line, knocking down both of his attempts from the charity stripe. The next time down the floor, Gillens-Butler assisted to Graham to close the gap to 29-15.
-  Hunter Woods found Hannah for a layup from the left side to cut the deficit to 16, but Duke's Trevor Keels responded with a three-ball from the left corner. Following the 3:37 media timeout, Elon answered with a pair of three pointers from Hannah and Zac Ervin. Another long ball by Ervin with 1:55 left in the half got the maroon and gold to within 40-26. Despite the late rally, Elon entered the break trailing 44-26.
- Elon's first bucket in the second half came on a Burford drive down the right side of the lane. Burford drew the slide from a Duke defender, then passed to Graham, who threw down a two-handed jam to make it a 46-28 game with 18:23 on the clock.
- Following a 1-for-2 effort at the line, Gillens-Butler scored a step back jumper from the right elbow to reach double-digit points with 10. The Orlando, Fla. native then added another driving layup to bring the score to 51-33. Moore Jr. and Ervin then traded baskets before the first media timeout of the half at 14:40 mark.
- A Gillens-Butler fast-break dunk halted an 11-0 run by Duke and a 4:32 scoring drought for the Phoenix. The basket made it 64-37 with 10:26 left in the game.
- Burford scored on a jumper from the right elbow before finding Sam Sherry open in the paint. The true freshman from Mechanicsburg, Pa. missed the initial shot, but grabbed his own rebound and scored on the put back as Elon trailed 71-41 at the 7:55 media timeout. Ervin then kicked it out to McIntosh for a three-pointer from the right corner to make it 73-45 with 6:52 remaining in the game.
-  After another five unanswered by the Blue Devils pushed their lead to 85-49, Hannah knocked down his second shot from beyond the arc as the Phoenix called a timeout at the 3:01 mark.
- Neither team was able to score again until Hannah passed to Ervin for a three ball from up top with 1:07 remaining. The sides then traded free throws as the Blue Devils held on for the 87-56 final.
 
NOTES
- Jerald Gillens-Butler led the way for the Phoenix, posting a season-high 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor, adding five rebounds, one assist and one steal to his totals. The effort marked the second double-digit scoring outing of the season for Gillens-Butler and the fifth of his Elon career.
- Zac Ervin adding 11 points, six boards and two assists in 25 minutes. The junior out of Gate City, Va. ended his night 4-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-6 from deep. Ervin has now had at least 10 points and five rebounds in five games this season.
- Chuck Hannah was perfect on the afternoon with eight points on a 3-for-3 effort from the field, including 2-for-2 shooting from distance. He pulled down five rebounds to go along with two helpers, one block and one steal. Hannah has not missed a shot in the last two games, going a combined 6-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-3 from long range against Winthrop and Duke respectively.
- Hunter Woods tied for the team lead in rebounds, finishing the night with six. The junior from Pasadena, Calif. also contributed three points, two steals, one block and one assist in 30 minutes of action.
- McIntosh, Graham and Burford each added six points to the Phoenix's total.
- As a team, the Phoenix went 22-for-49 from the field, 7-for-18 from distance and 5-for-9 from the free-throw line.
- Elon scored 22 points in the paint, nine points on fast break, eight points off turnovers and 24 points off the bench.
- The Phoenix held Duke to just 4-of-14 shooting from three in the second half (28.6 percent).
- Elon's bench outscored Duke's 11-7 in the first half.
 
UP NEXT
Elon rounds out its non-conference schedule this Tuesday, Dec. 21 when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark. for a 7 p.m. meeting with Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena. The game will be streamed live on the SEC Network.