CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A furious comeback in the second half helped the Elon University men's basketball team overcome a double-digit deific and a brief lead as the Phoenix gave a scare at No. 9/10 North Carolina on Monday night, Nov. 4. The Tar Heels would eventually come away with the 90-76 victory on their home court at the Smith Center.
 
A 14-0 run late in the second half put the Phoenix (0-1) in position for a potential upset of its in-state rival.  Four players scored in double figures for Elon led by 18 points off the bench for TJ Simpkins. Nick Dorn added 17 points while Sam Sherry and TK Simpkins contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively.
 
North Carolina's RJ Davis scored a game-high 24 points while adding seven assists. He was one of four players in double digits for the Tar Heels (1-0) along with Elliot Cadeau (17), Seth Trimble (15) and Jae'ly Withers, who had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• The Tar Heels took a 6-2 lead before the Phoenix tied it up at eight-all after a three-pointer from TK Simpkins. North Carolina went up by three, 13-11, on a made layup with 16:52 left in the opening half.
• Elon came back with four points off a Nick Dorn three and a Sam Sherry free throw to take its first lead of the game, 14-13. Both teams traded baskets over the next four minutes before a Sherry triple gave Elon a 19-17 advantage going into the under-12 media timeout.
• A 9-0 run by the Tar Heels erased the Phoenix's lead as Elon faced a 26-19 deficit. UNC pushed its lead to 32-21 after a made three just inside of eight minutes left in the half.
• Another three-pointer by the Tar Heels with five minutes left in the half gave North Carolina a 42-26 lead. The Phoenix however responded with a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to cut its deficit to 44-39 capped off by a TJ Simpkins three. UNC however ended the opening half with a 7-0 run to take a 51-39 advantage going into the locker room.
• Elon made it an eight-point game, 51-43, after a basket by Sherry with 18:30 left to play. The Tar Heels however expanded its lead to 53-43, on a dunk on the following possession and kept it a double-digit lead over the next eight minutes.
• After a pair of free throws by UNC's RJ Davis gave the Tar Heels a 69-57 lead with 10:58 remaining in the game. The Phoenix then started to rally, scoring 14 unanswered over the next four minutes to take a 71-69 lead after a pair of free throws by TJ Simpkins at the 6:48 mark.
• The Tar Heels regained momentum thanks to an 18-2 run that all but sealed the fate for Elon. The Phoenix would get as close as 11 points, 87-76, on an Isaac Harrell three-pointer with 47 seconds left, but that would be the last basket of the game for the maroon and gold as the Tar Heels closed out with the 90-76 victory.
 
NOTES
• The win improved the Tar Heels to 5-0 all-time versus Elon during the Phoenix's Division I era. The maroon and gold also fell to 0-31 all-time versus ranked opponents at the D-I level.
• Elon's 76 points are the most points scored by the Phoenix against the Tar Heels. As a team, the maroon and gold shot 42.6 percent from the field including 50 percent in the second half. The Phoenix also knocked down nearly 45 percent of its triples (13-of-29).
• Matthew Van Komen and Andrew King made their Elon debuts in the starting lineup with Dorn, Sherry and TK Simpkins. King led the Phoenix with four assists while Van Komen was a presence on the defensive end with seven boards and a pair of block shots.
• North Carolina won the overall rebounding title, 43-40, but the Phoenix outrebounded the Tar Heels on the defensive end, 30-25. Elon also outscored UNC in points off the bench, 27-16, with TJ Simpkins accounting for most of that total.
 
UP NEXT
Elon hosts Bluefield (Va.) for its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Schar Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will stream on FloCollege.