ELON N.C.– Elon University men's basketball dominated James Madison, 90-67, on Monday, Jan. 17, at Schar Center. The Phoenix moved to 2-1 at home in CAA play and 5-3 overall at Schar Center this season with the win.
 
"First off, it was an honor to play today on Martin Luther King Jr. Day," head coach Mike Schrage opened. "For today, just proud of our guys. I thought the other night was one of the toughest regular season losses we've ever had. I really felt it from our guys that they were ready to make a step, but we struggled a bit offensively. That flipped today. Honestly, this was one of our proudest regular season wins we've had here. Just our response – today was our kind of game, our kind of day. Really proud of the guy's response tonight."
 
THE RUNDOWN
- Elon surged out of the gates in the first half, using a 13-4 run to jump out to an early nine-point lead. Chuck Hannah opened the scoring with a tough finish at the rim before back-to-back threes by Hunter McIntosh and Darius Burford put the Phoenix on top 8-2. After a JMU bucket made the score 8-4, a quick layup by Hannah followed by Burford's second three of the game gave Elon the early nine-point advantage.
- With the score sitting at 18-13 with 12:29 to play in the first half, Kris Wooten knocked down his second three of the game to ignite a 22-6 Phoenix run. McIntosh was the catalyst for the spurt, draining four triples during the stretch. Michael Graham added four points on the burst, while Darius Burford's three with 6:19 remaining gave the Phoenix a 37-19 lead. McIntosh capped the spurt with his fifth three of the half that put Elon up by 21 with just over five minutes before halftime.
- A late JMU run cut its deficit down to 12 in the closing moments of the half, but McIntosh's sixth three in the opening 20 minutes kept the Phoenix in front 46-31 entering the break.
- With JMU trailing by 12 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, Elon went on a 17-0 run to put the game out of reach. Wooten got things going on the spurt, scoring on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 17. After a Torrence Watson and-one put the Phoenix on top 66-46, Wooten connected on his sixth three of the night to give him 20 points for the first time in his career. Moments later, Zac Ervin calmly made four free throws following two technical fouls on the Dukes, before Graham capped the late run with two free throws of his own. The stretch gave Elon its largest lead of the game 75-46 with 7:41 left to play.
- The two sides traded scores down the stretch as the Phoenix secured the win, 90-67.
 
NOTES
- Kris Wooten led the charge for the Phoenix, dropping a career-high 23 points, adding two rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes of action. Wooten also posted career-highs in field goals (8) and threes made (7) in the win. The performance marked the second double-digit scoring outing for the senior this season.
- Hunter McIntosh added 18 points, seven assists and three rebounds in 25 minutes. McIntosh scored all his points in the first half, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. With his performance, McIntosh has now scored at least 10 points in 11 games this season and 45 times overall in his career.
- Darius Burford finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the win. Burford knocked down a career-high four triples in the contest, while grabbing eight boards for the second straight game. The sophomore has now scored in double-figures 11 times this season.  
- Michael Graham chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks in his 24 minutes on the court. Graham continued his strong start to conference play, dropping at least 10 points for the sixth consecutive game, while also posting his 12^th contest with at least five rebounds this year.
- Andrew Junkin logged a season-high six points and three rebounds in the contest, finishing the night 4-of-6 from the charity stripe 1-of-1 from the field.
- Chuck Hannah and Zac Ervin combined for 12 points, six rebounds and three assists in the win.
- RJ Noord scored his first field goal in an Elon uniform, knocking down a mid-range jumper in the final minute for his lone points of the afternoon.
- The Phoenix held a 20-4 advantage in second chance points, a 42-24 advantage in bench points and a 11-9 advantage in fast break points in the contest.
- Elon finished the night with 25 assists, its most in a game since dishing out 27 assists against Randolph earlier this season.
- Elon led by as much as 29 in the win and held the lead for 39:13 of a possible 40 minutes.
- The Phoenix entered halftime with 17 assists on 17 made baskets, including 12 first-half threes.
- With the win, Elon evened the all-time series with James Madison 9-9.
 
UP NEXT
Elon returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 20, when it travels to Philadelphia, Pa. for a matchup with Drexel. That contest is slated for a 7 p.m. tip and will be streamed live on FloSports.