PHILADELPHIA – The Elon University men's basketball team closed out its road swing with a 68-53 win over Penn on Sunday, Dec. 1, in its final game at the Cathedral Classic presented by Toyota at the Palestra.
 
Elon (5-3) saw four members score in double figures with Sam Sherry leading the way with 16 points. Nick Dorn had 15 while TK Simpkins added 12. Matthew Van Komen posted his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
 
Penn's Ethan Roberts led the Quakers (3-5) with a game-high 20 points in the contest.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• The Phoenix got off to a quick start, scoring the first eight points of the contest. Sam Sherry hit a bucket in the paint before hitting a pullup three in transition for five quick points. After another defensive stand by Elon, TK Simpkins added another three, forcing Penn to call a timeout just over a minute into the game with the Phoenix ahead 8-0.
• A steal forced by TK Simpkins in the backcourt, led to a layup by Andrew King to put the Phoenix ahead 12-3 with 15:05 left in the opening half. The Quakers went on an 8-0 run to cut the Phoenix's lead to one, 12-11, but a layup from Dorn and a dunk from Matthew Van Komen put Elon ahead 16-11 at the 11:52 mark in the first half.
• Penn came back to tie the game at 18-all off a layup near the halfway point of the first period. Isaac Harrell put Phoenix back in front, 20-18, but Penn cut its deficit again, this time down to one, 22-21, after a three-pointer with 7:56 left in the half.
• Elon answered with a 7-0 run to take a 29-21 lead with Dorn scoring five points during that stretch. Penn would slice the Phoenix's lead to five, 29-24, after a three of its own, but the Phoenix responded with an 8-2 run to close the half. Dorn added two more threes in the run as Elon went into the break ahead 37-26.
• A tip-in by Van Komen early in the second half gave the Phoenix a 39-26 lead. Elon kept it a double-digit lead as Dorn made a layup to put the Phoenix ahead 43-33 with 17:22 left to play.
• The Quakers cut the Phoenix's lead to four, 47-43, after a 10-4 run. The Phoenix however got some breathing room, going on a 11-1 run over the next five-plus minutes to give Elon a 58-44 lead.
• Elon held control for the remainder of the game, taking the 68-53 victory to close out the tournament.
 
NOTES
• The Phoenix closed out its six-game road swing with a 4-2 ledger. The Phoenix's three true road wins this season already match its total for road victories from the past five seasons.
• TK Simpkins was named to the All-Tournament team to represent Elon. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native averaged 17.7 ppg while hitting nearly 49 percent of his shots including 50 percent from three-point range.
• Elon shot 49 percent in the game (28-of-57) and 35 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-17).
• The Phoenix won the rebounding battle, 44-34 and held a 36-22 advantage in the paint.
• This was Elon's first-ever win over the Quakers with the all-time series moving to 2-1 in favor of Penn.
• Van Komen averaged 10 rebounds per game at the tournament. The graduate student also had a career-high four assists with four blocks.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns home to host Wofford at Schar Center on Saturday, Dec. 7, Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will stream on FloCollege.