ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's basketball team closed out its two-game homestand and its 2022 calendar year home schedule with a 101-69 victory over Johnson & Wales (N.C.) on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 11, at Schar Center.
 
Sam Sherry scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Phoenix (2-8) while freshman Max Mackinnon added 23 points as he was one point shy of tying his career-high. Zac Ervin put in a new season-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from downtown while Sean Halloran added a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 assists.
 
Fred Patterson had 26 points to lead all scorers for Johnson & Wales (5-7) while Anthoney Ray put in 20 points.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• The Phoenix took an 11-8 advantage by the first media timeout. Max Mackinnon scored six of those 11 points for the Phoenix during that stretch as the Phoenix as a team started 5-of-7 from the field.
• Elon expanded its lead to 19-11 after a Zac Ervin three-pointer at the 13:26 mark. JWU cut its deficit to six on a Fred Patterson jumper, but the Phoenix responded with an 8-2 run to take a 27-15 lead – its largest of the game at that point – after an Ervin pull-up three in transition to force the Wildcats to call a timeout.
• Johnson & Wales came back with an 8-2 run of its own to bring its deficit to six, 29-23, after a three-pointer from Ethan Smith. Elon regained control to take a 12-point lead after a couple of three-pointers from Ervin as the Phoenix took a 35-23 advantage into the under-eight media timeout.
• The Wildcats cut the Phoenix's lead back to single-digits, 35-26, after a JWU and-one by Zyrion Wilkins with 7:01 left in the first half. Elon came back with an 11-4 run to go ahead by 16, 46-30, after a LA Pratt three-pointer with 3:23 left in the first period. The Phoenix would go into the locker room at the half with a 16-point advantage, 50-34.
• The Phoenix would continue to swell its lead during the second half never falling below an 18-point margin as Elon cruised to a 101-69 victory.
 
NOTES
• Elon scored its 101 points on a season-best 58.7 percent shooting (37-of-63), including 14-of-27 from three-point range, which is also a season-best. The Phoenix shot 63.3 percent in the opening period, its best first-half outing since shooting 62.1 percent versus Northeastern last December.
• Sherry surpassed his previous personal-best point total of 19 after going 8-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native also tied Mackinnon for the team-lead with seven rebounds while blocking two shots.
• Mackinnon added his second 20-point scoring performance of his rookie campaign after going 10-of-13 from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Sherry and Mackinnon became the first pair of Elon teammates to score 20-plus points each since Hunter McIntosh and Darius Burford both did so last season versus Northeastern on Dec. 29, 2021.
• Ervin's 19 points off the bench helped the Phoenix win the 35-9 bench-scoring margin over the Wildcats. The senior also tied his career-high with four assists.
• Halloran's 11 assists tied the program's Division I record along with Marcus Sheffield from 2019 and Chris Long from 2009. Elon had 26 assists as a team, tying the third-best highest Division I performance in school history and one shy of tying the program record at the D-I era.
• Elon last scored 100-plus points in its 107-62 victory over Randolph College last season.
 
UP NEXT
Elon begins a five-game road trip at Presbyterian on Thursday, Dec. 15. The Phoenix and the Blue Hose are set for a 12 p.m. start.