ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's basketball team makes the trek down I-40 to play in the Asheville Championship. The Phoenix begins the tournament versus ETSU on Friday night, Nov. 11, at 8:30 p.m. inside Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
• Friday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Mark Neely and Tim Welsh on the call.
• Listen to the Elon Sports Network from Learfield on The Varsity Network app.
• Longtime voice of the Phoenix, Taylor Durham, will be on the call with the pregame show beginning at 8 p.m.
• Links for the broadcast and live stats can be found on the Elon men's basketball schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Other in-game updates will be provided on Twitter by following @ElonMBasketball.
 
TICKETS ON SALE
• Season tickets are now on sale for $170 for men's basketball.
• Single-game tickets are now on sale! Single-game tickets begin at $15 for men's basketball.
• Fans are able to purchase a book of 10 ticket vouchers for $75. These vouchers are redeemable for a ticket to any Elon men's or women's basketball regular season home game. Use all 10 for any one game, or use one voucher for 10 different games. Fans will also receive an Elon mini autographed basketball from the head coaches. These tickets represent a 50 percent savings for men's basketball tickets and a 25 percent savings for women's basketball vs. single-game prices.
• Ticket vouchers must be redeemed for a reserved seat ticket prior to entry. This can be done at the Schar Center Box Office during regular business hours (M-F, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.) or starting 90 minutes prior to tipoff.
• For more information, visit ElonTickets.com or call the Elon Ticket Office at 336-278-6750.
 
THE MATCHUP
• Going into Friday, both Elon and ETSU have met four times on the court with all their meetings coming as former Southern Conference foes from 2003-05.
• ETSU holds a 3-1 advantage in the series over the Phoenix. The last time the two programs met came during the 2004-05 season with Elon earning an 80-72 victory over the Buccaneers. LeVonn Jordan scored 20 points for the maroon and gold including going 12-for-17 at the free throw line. His 12 makes at the charity stripe tied for the fourth-most in a game in school history.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix began the Billy Taylor era with an 80-55 victory over Erskine in its season-opener on Monday, Nov. 7.
• Torrence Watson led three Elon players in double figures with his 16 points, tying game-high honors. Watson also paced the squad with a career-high nine rebounds
• Freshman forward Deandre Smart had 15 points off the bench for Elon in his collegiate debut while JaDun Michael added 12 while making his first collegiate start.
• The Phoenix outrebounded the Flying Fleet, 49-32, and tallied 20 second chance points to only six for Erskine.
• Led by Smart, the Phoenix reserves outplayed Erskine's, scoring 31 points to 12.
• Elon trailed Erskine, 19-17, with 7:08 left in the opening half, but an ensuing 13-0 run by the Phoenix gave it the lead for good.
• Elon closed out the first half with a 17-point lead and led by as many as 27 points in the second period to cruise to the 80-55 win.
• With the win, Taylor became the third head coach in the Division I era to win a game for Elon in his debut with the Phoenix.
 
LAUNCHING THE BILLY TAYLOR ERA
• Taylor was named the 19^th head coach of the Phoenix on April 15, 2022. Taylor arrived to the Phoenix after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa.
• Prior to working with the Hawkeyes, Taylor spent five years as head coach at Lehigh University followed by six seasons as the head coach at Ball State University and three at Belmont Abbey College.
• In his time at Iowa, the Hawkeyes ranked as one of the top offensive teams in the country, ranking fifth nationally in scoring average in both 2021 (83.7) and 2022 (83.2). The program also led the country in assist-to-turnover ratio in both seasons.
• Taylor was a two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year (2003, 2004) and led Lehigh to both the regular season and tournament titles in 2004, earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament that season. He also guided Ball State to the 2009 MAC West Division crown.
 
OPENING TIP
• Elon welcomes back seven letterwinners from last year's team including five upperclassmen. Among the notable returners for the maroon and gold includes graduate student Torrence Watson and senior Zac Ervin. Both players are the leading returning scorers for Elon at 9.2 and 7.1 points per game, respectively.
• The Phoenix also welcomes back redshirt Jerald Gillens-Butler, who hopes to return to form after being named an All-Colonial Athletic Association honorable mention prior to last year. The Orlando, Fla., native appeared in only 10 games last year after missing most of the prior season due to an injury.
• A pair of graduate transfers will look to make an immediate impact for the Phoenix this season. Sean Halloran arrives to the Phoenix after an outstanding four-year career at Belmont Abbey. The Orlando, Fla., native finished as the all-time career assist leader with the Crusaders while helping the program to back-to-back Conference Carolinas Tournament Championships and three straight NCAA tournament appearances. He rounded out his career averaging 14.4 points per game as a senior and concluded his career with 1,422 points.
• Another graduate transfer, John Bowen III, brings size to the Phoenix front line at 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds. The Bladenboro, N.C., native last played at UNCW in 2019-20 and appeared in 28 out of 32 games. Prior to UNCW, Bowen III was a teammate of Halloran's at Belmont Abbey and averaged 8.9 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per contest in 2018-19 while starting 27 of 28 games.
• A pair of freshmen will also look to make an impact for the maroon and gold in 2022-23. Max Mackinnon is a 6-foot-5 swingman from Brisbane, Australia, where he won back-to-back gold medals with the U20 Australian National Team. He was also named an All-Star 5 at the Australian National Championship.
• Another freshman, LA Pratt, is a 6-foot-5 guard from Columbus, Ohio, who was a three-time All-4A Team member and three-time conference champion at Lincoln Park High School. He scored over 1,000 points in high school and helped guide the program to two WPIAL Championship appearances and two State Semifinal appearances.
 
SCOUTING ETSU
• The Bucs enter the tournament with a 1-0 ledger after an 88-66 win over Emory & Henry on Monday night.
• ETSU was led by Justice Smith and his game-high 20 points in the contest. Brock Jancek added 14 points and seven rebounds.
• The Buccaneers lead the NCAA in offensive rebounds with 26 while ranking 22^nd in turnovers forced per game.
• ETSU went 15-17 overall last season and posted a 7-11 ledger in the SoCon. Junior guard Jordan King was a 2022 preseason All-SoCon selection and after earning third team laurels as a sophomore with averages of 14.6 points per game while ranking second in the conference in three-point percentage at .429 percent.
 
UP NEXT
The winner between the Phoenix and the Buccaneers will advance to the championship game of the tournament and face either Harvard or Louisiana on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 4:30 p.m. The third-place game is scheduled for 2 p.m. with both games airing on ESPNU.