Elon, N.C. – The Elon University men's basketball team rallied back from a 13-point deficit with five minutes to play but the North Dakota Fighting Hawks held off the Phoenix comeback attempt in a 77-73 win Thursday evening at Schar Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• North Dakota built an early 9-2 lead as the Phoenix attempted to just one field goal (and four free-throws) over the first 5+ minutes of game time.
• Elon made its next four field goals and buckled down defensively for an 11-2 run to take a 13-11 advantage with 11:42 to play in the opening half.
• Elon led 18-16 before the Fighting Hawks reeled off a 13-3 run. Torrence Watson's three-pointer answered North Dakota's first eight points but the Fighting Hawks took their largest lead of the contest at 29-21.
• Max Mackinnon scored five points down the stretch but North Dakota made a lay-up as the first half horn sounded for a 37-27 lead at the break.
• Watson and Sean Halloran had three-pointers during an 8-0 Elon run coming out of the locker room. That brought the Phoenix within two at 37-35.
• North Dakota slowly built the lead back and held a 63-50 advantage after Tsotne Tsartsidze's dunk with 5:03 to play.
• North Dakota still led by 12 with 3:40 left but Elon made six free-throws on successive trips down the floor to get within six. After a North Dakota lay-up, Halloran made a three-pointer with 1:01 to go that made it 70-65.
• The teams traded a pair of free-throws and Tsartsidze added another with 27 seconds left but Halloran made his fourth three-pointer of the game to bring Elon to within three.
• North Dakota, though, went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe the rest of the way for the 77-73 win.

 
NOTES AND STATS

• Sean Halloran led Elon with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He was perfect on four three-point attempts and three free-throw attempts. The 21 points was his high as a Phoenix.
• Zac Ervin added 15 points and Torrence Watson had 12.
• JaDun Michael had a team-high eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.
• As a team, Elon shot 46 percent from the floor and made 7-of-15 three-point attempts.
• North Dakota held a 33-31 rebounding advantage and had 11 turnovers, two fewer than Elon.
• Halloran played in and started the 120^th game of his career. He played and started 116 games for Belmont Abbey before transferring to Elon for his final season.
• North Dakota made only 56 percent of its free-throws in its first three games but was 17-of-20 Thursday night.

 
UP NEXT

• Elon's next two contests will be on the road. The Phoenix will be at NC State Saturday at 1 p.m. and at Jacksonville State Tuesday at 7 p.m.
• The Phoenix will return home on Sunday, Nov. 27 to host Radford at 2 p.m.