PHILADELPHIA – The Elon University men's basketball team fell in its Colonial Athletic Association opener at Drexel, 62-50, on Thursday, Dec. 29, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
 
Sean Halloran and Sam Sherry tied for the team lead with 11 points for the Phoenix (2-12, 0-1 CAA). Elon overall shot 19-of-49 from the field and was 5-of-15 from three-point range.
 
The Dragons (7-6, 1-0 CAA) were led by Coltrane Washington's 12 points, which were a game high. Three other players scored in double figures for Drexel; Lamar Oden Jr. (11 points), Luke House (11) and Amari Williams (10).
 
THE RUNDOWN
• Drexel opened the game with an 8-5 lead by the first media timeout. Elon tied the game at three-all after a Max Mackinnon three-pointer, but the Dragons countered with a 5-0 run to move ahead 8-3 before Sherry's layup trimmed the Phoenix's deficit to three with 15:10 left in the opening half.
• A free throw line jumper from JaDun Michael brought the Phoenix within one, 8-7, but the Dragons answered with a 7-0 run move in front back eight, 15-7.
• Elon came back to make it a two-point game, 15-13, after a three-pointer from Halloran and a jump hook from Sherry. Drexel expanded its lead to five, 20-15, but the Phoenix came back with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 22-20, after a three from Jerald Gillens-Butler.
• Drexel came back to tie the game at 25-all with 3:48 left in the first half after a three from Washington. The Dragons would hang on to the lead for the remainder of the half, going into the locker room at the break ahead 30-27.
• A Zac Ervin three-pointer less than a minute into the second period tied the contest at 32-all. Elon would take the lead, 33-32, after Sherry split a pair at the free throw line on the next possession.
• The Dragons went on a 13-2 run to push their lead to 10, 45-35, with 12:50 left in the contest. The Phoenix worked to bring it down to a two-possession game, 45-39, after a jumper from Michael and a layup from Halloran.
• Drexel made it a double-digit game again on a three-pointer from Washington at the 8:45 mark. Another triple for Washington gave the Dragons their largest lead at that point, 54-43, with 6:56 remaining.
• A Mackinnon basket with 6:25 left in the game brought the score to 54-45, but Drexel responded with a three to make it back to a double-digit game, 57-45. That would be the lone field goal between either team over the next five-plus minutes until Ervin's three-pointer made it 59-48 with 45 seconds left.
• A pair of free throws from Halloran brought Elon's deficit to nine, 59-50, with 32 seconds remaining, but Drexel made its free throws down the stretch to take the 62-50 win.
 
NOTES
• Elon moved to 3-6 all-time in CAA openers with two of its victories coming against the Dragons.
• The Phoenix shot 44 percent from the floor in the first half, but only 33.3 percent in the second period. Elon also shot 50 percent overall from the free throw line (7-of-14), its worst performance at the line this season.
• Halloran had four steals in the contest for the Phoenix, matching his career high for the fourth time this season.
• Michael scored eight points for the Phoenix, his best total since scoring 12 in the season-opener versus Erskine. The Burlington, N.C., native was 4-of-7 from the floor.
• Gillens-Butler made his season debut for the Phoenix. The redshirt senior had three points while playing seven minutes in the opening half.
• The Dragons have now won the past four contests against the Phoenix and eight out of the past nine games.
 
UP NEXT
Elon closes out its five-game road trip with a trip to Delaware on Saturday, Dec. 31, for a New Year's Eve matchup with the Blue Hens. That contest is set to begin at 2 p.m.