VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Elon University men's basketball team battled back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to a four-point game, but fell short in its comeback attempt as the Phoenix fell to Valparaiso, 71-66, at the Athletics-Recreation Center on Sunday, Dec. 18.
 
Max Mackinnon had 18 points to lead the Phoenix on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor. Sam Sherry added 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds while Sean Halloran added 11 for the maroon and gold. Overall, Elon shot 27-of-72 for the game at 37.5 percent and only 3-of-27 from three.
 
Valparaiso's Kobe King led all scorers with 21 points while Quinton Green added 16 for the Beacons while going 5-of-12 from three-point range. Connor Barrett had 13 points for Valpo while Nick Edwards added 13 assists to his stat line.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• The Beacons opened the contest with an 8-4 lead by the first media timeout. King hit a jumper to give Valpo an 8-2 advantage before John Bowen III cut the Phoenix's deficit in half on a fastbreak basket before the under-16 whistle.
• Bowen's bucket sparked a 12-6 run for the maroon and gold over the next four minutes with Elon tying the game at 14-all after a three-pointer from RJ Noord Jr. at the top of the arc. After Valpo took a 16-14 advantage with 12:29 left in the period, the maroon and gold countered with a 7-0 run to move ahead 21-16 on two baskets by Mackinnon and a three-pointer from Halloran.
• Valpo answered with a 10-0 run to retake the lead, 26-21. The Phoenix brought its deficit back to one, 26-25, after a shot by Sherry, but the Beacons went on an 11-0 run to take a 12-point lead, 37-25, to force an Elon timeout with 3:39 left in the first half.
• The Beacons took its largest lead of the half, 42-27, on a three-pointer by Quentin Green, with just over a minute remaining in the opening half. Halloran made a couple of free throws to cut into that advantage with Valpo going into the half ahead 42-29.
• Valparaiso expanded its lead to 18, 51-33, by the first media timeout to start the second half. The lead swelled to 18 again, 55-37, with 13:25 left in the game.
• The Phoenix rallied with a 14-0 run over the next five-plus minutes to bring itself within four. Sherry scored six points during the run including a layup to make it 55-51 with 7:39 left in the game. Another layup by Mackinnon cut the Beacons' lead to four again, 57-53, with 6:41 remaining in the half.
• Valparaiso earned some breathing room after shots by King and Nick Edwards to push its advantage to eight, 61-53, to force Elon into a timeout with 4:14 left in the game. Valpo continued its 8-0 run to take a 12-point lead, 65-53, after a pair of free throws by King with 2:12 left on the clock.
• Elon fought back to bring its disadvantage to eight, 67-59 after a shot from LA Pratt with just under a minute left to play. After Valpo made a pair of free throws to make an 11-point game with 36 seconds left to play, 71-60, the Phoenix trimmed that lead to five, 71-66, thanks to some pressure defense that forced a couple of Beacons' turnovers in the final 30 seconds, before running out of time in its comeback attempt.
  
NOTES
• Elon's three made three-pointers was its lowest since also making three triples against Ole Miss last season where the Phoenix shot 3-of-17. Its 11.1 shooting percentage from downtown was its lowest since shooting 10.0 percent at Georgia Tech (3-of-30) in 2019.
• Mackinnon and Sherry added their fifth double-digit scoring outings of the season while Halloran provided his team-best ninth.
• JaDun Michael had six points in 14 minutes for the Phoenix after missing the previous game at Presbyterian. The Burlington, N.C., native was 3-of-5 from the floor.
• The Phoenix had a season-low five turnovers in the contest, its lowest total since also committing five at Drexel in 2021. Elon forced 18 turnovers and had a season-high 13 steals. Elon scored 21 off of the Beacons' turnovers.
• Elon dominated in the paint, scoring 36 points compared to 20 for Valpo.
 
UP NEXT
Elon continues its road trek to the southern part of the state of Indiana, making the visit to Bloomington for a matchup with the Hoosiers on Tuesday, Dec. 20 for its final nonconference matchup. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will air on the Big Ten Network.