ELON, N.C. – Elon's final basket Thursday night might not have matched the excitement of the team's dramatic buzzer-beater from Monday's victory, but what the shot lacked in flare, it more than made up for in historical significance. 

A layup in the closing seconds by Ned Hull against Warren Wilson pushed the Phoenix to 127 points and punctuated a commanding 71-point victory, setting records for most points in a game and largest margin of victory in program history.  

Elon's offense was on fire throughout the game and dominated in the paint. Eight players scored double digit points in an all-around team effort. Taylor was able to use 14 of his players, all of whom scored points. 

"Everybody scoring is always really a great moment for us as a coaching staff and for our team," Taylor said. "You saw how excited our guys were when Otto [Lussenhop] got his basket and when Austin [Williams] got his drive. To see those guys rewarded with success on the floor means a lot."

The explosive start and large lead allowed other Elon players to have their moment in the spotlight, something Sam Sherry said he loved seeing.

"It was kind of a share the wealth game with those guys getting buckets," Sherry said. "I get really excited and the other guys love seeing it too.  It was a great all-together team win."

Elon's size advantage gave the Phoenix big men a chance to shine. Early on this season, the key to success for the maroon and gold has been the three-pointer. On Thursday night, it was a completely different story. 90 of Elon's 127 points came in the paint, with 14 coming from Deandre Smart and 12 from Sherry. 
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elon Men's Basketball (@elonmbasketball)

Establishing a consistent rhythm helped Smart and Sherry get back to the basics and know that every basket does not need to be a highlight-reel play.

"Layups are easier than threes," Smart said. "It was best that we were getting those."

The offense was firing on all cylinders with every man on the court playing his part in working toward breaking the scoring record. 

"I thought our paint scoring was diverse," Taylor said. "It was transition points, it was offensive rebounds, [and] there were a lot of different ways that we scored in the paint and that was important for us to really see and learn that it's not a one-size fits all. There's a lot of ways you can get paint production."

Sherry credited an all-around effort and sharing the ball as key factors in the win.

"Coach made an emphasis in practice that we have to seal and make ourselves available more and the guards will find us," Sherry said. "The guards did a great job of finding us. They were unselfish in getting us the ball and so we appreciate that and obviously it was working for us all together."
 

---

'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.

---