ELON, N.C. – Max Mackinnon led a trio of double-digit scorers with 22 points and the Elon men's basketball team used a stout defensive effort to defeat William & Mary 66-55 on Saturday at Schar Center. 
 
In addition to tallying a game-high nine rebounds, Mackinnon went 9-for-15 from the field en route to his fourth 20-point performance of the season. Sean Halloran followed him with 18 points – including 11 in the second half – and Sam Sherry added 14 for his highest-scoring output in almost two months.
 
Tyler Rice and Miguel Ayesa paced the Tribe (9-17, 4-9 CAA) with 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench, but Elon (6-20, 4-9) held William & Mary to 35.1% shooting (20-for-57) to secure its fourth win in its last five games.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys for the way we've played in recent weeks and the success we're having now," said head coach Billy Taylor. "They've been working so hard for a long period of time, and we've done it through a variety of injuries and other stuff. We always talk about being accountable; we don't make excuses. Regardless of what the situation is, our guys have played hard and competed, and they handled Wednesday's tough loss at North Carolina A&T well.
 
"There was great energy in the crowd. The place was a little bit more electric today, and I thought our guys really fed off that."
 
THE RUNDOWN
 

• Elon came out hot, scoring the first five points of the game via a Halloran layup and a Mackinnon and-1. The Phoenix eventually stretched its early lead to 10-6, but Rice made two 3-pointers as part of an 8-0 run that put William & Mary up 14-10 with 11 minutes left in the first half.
• Sherry snapped Elon's scoring drought with his first two points of the game at the 9:56 mark. That proved to be the start of a 9-2 run that Sherry capped with an and-1 to put the Phoenix up 19-16 with 6:51 remaining until halftime.
• At that point, Ayesa got hot, making three 3-pointers as part of a 10-3 run that handed the Tribe a 26-22 lead. But that didn't faze Elon, which responded with a 10-3 run that featured seven points by Mackinnon and helped the Phoenix to a 32-29 halftime lead.
• Coming out of the break, William & Mary scored the first two points of the second half to pull within one. Elon, however, answered with an 11-2 run that began and ended with a pair of Mackinnon layups to seize a 43-33 lead.
• Looking to stay within striking distance, the Tribe went on a 5-0 spurt to pull within five, but back-to-back layups by Mackinnon and Sherry helped the Phoenix take a 47-38 lead into the under-12 media timeout.
• Elon's lead hovered around nine points for most of the next eight-plus minutes, but with 2:32 left, Jack Karasinski made a 3-pointer to cut it to 57-51 and give William & Mary some life. Halloran, however, answered with a 3 of his own on the next possession, and the Phoenix went 6-for-8 at the free-throw line in the final 1:10 to put the game away.

 
NOTES
 

• Mackinnon's 22 points were his third most of the season. The Brisbane, Australia, native scored 24 against High Point on Nov. 30, 2022, and had 23 against Johnson & Wales on Dec. 11, 2022.
• Mackinnon's four 20-point games this season are the most by an Elon freshman since Hunter McIntosh had five in 2019-20.
• Mackinnon has scored in double figures in five straight games. He's averaging 16.4 points on 57.6% shooting (34-for-59) in that stretch.
• Halloran scored in double figures for the team-best 20th time this season.
• Sherry's 14 points marked his most since totaling 14 on Dec. 15, 2022, at Presbyterian. They were also his most in 24 career CAA games.
• John Bowen III followed Mackinnon with eight rebounds. His 17 rebounds over his last two games are his most in any two-game stretch this season.
• The Phoenix shot 50% (25-for-50), tied for its third-best shooting performance of the season.
• Elon outrebounded the Tribe, 40-28. The 12-board margin marked the Phoenix's largest against a Division I opponent since outrebounding Hofstra by 29 (55-26) on Feb. 24, 2022. 
• After holding North Carolina A&T to 33.3% shooting on Wednesday, Elon limited William & Mary to 35.1%, the third-worst mark by an opponent this season.
• The Tribe's 55 points tied for the fewest allowed by the Phoenix this season. It also held Erskine and Stony Brook to 55.

 
UP NEXT
 

• Elon will welcome Hampton to Schar Center on Monday for a 9 p.m. tilt. The game is set to air on the CBS Sports Network.