BOSTON, Mass. – The Elon University men's basketball team posted a furious second-half rally, but ultimately saw its comeback attempt fall short as the Phoenix fell at Northeastern, 61-58, on Thursday evening, Feb. 22, at Matthews Arena.
 
Elon (12-16, 5-10 CAA) had four players score in double figures in Nick Dorn (14 points), Max Mackinnon (13 points), Sam Sherry (11 points) and LA Pratt (10 points). Sherry also grabbed 10 rebounds in the game for his third career double-double.
 
Northeastern (11-17, 6-9 CAA) also had four double-digit scorers in the game. Jared Turner had a game-high 15 points while Masai Troutman added 13 for the Huskies. Chris Doherty and Rashad Kind each contributed with 12.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• The game remained close through the first six minutes of the game. A Sam Sherry dunk with 13:49 left in the first half brought the maroon and gold within one, 9-8, but Northeastern scored the next five points to take a 14-8 lead.
• Elon cut its deficit back to one, 14-13, after five points from LA Pratt. Northeastern went on a 13-2 run over the next five-plus minutes to push its lead to 27-15 after a Turner three-pointer with 5:59 left in the half.
• A three-pointer by Dorn brought the Phoenix's deficit down to eight, 32-24, but the Huskies scored a couple of baskets to tie its largest lead of the first half, 36-24, before taking a 36-26 lead into the halftime break.
• Starting the second half, Northeastern expanded its lead to as large as 16 points after a three by Troutman made the score 44-28 with 17:27 left in the game. The Huskies would keep control of the lead, going ahead by 15 after a Doherty free throw put the Phoenix down 48-33 with 13:24 left to play.
• The Phoenix began its comeback after that, going on a 17-3 run over the next five minutes to bring itself within one, 51-50, after a layup by Dorn. A pair of free throws by Doherty put the Huskies up by three with 6:29 left in the contest.
• Elon responded to tie the game at 53-all as Dorn found himself free for a triple at the 5:28 mark. Both teams went cold offensively for the next three minutes until Doherty put the Huskies back in front, 55-53, on the jumper in the lane.
• The Phoenix tied the game once again with just over a minute remaining. TK Simpkins squared up for a shot just above the free throw line and banked it in off the glass as the game was deadlocked at 55-all.
• Doherty stepped up once again for Northeastern as the graduate student hit another jumper that gave the Huskies the 57-55 lead with just 25 seconds remaining.
• After a Phoenix timeout with 11 seconds remaining, Elon inbounded the ball to Sherry who then found Mackinnon at the near corner behind the arc for a three. The contested shot went in and gave the Phoenix a 58-57 lead with just eight seconds remaining.
• Northeastern however would take advantage of a foul called on the Phoenix as the Huskies were attempting a shot from beyond the arc. Northeastern's Luka Sakota hit all three free throws to put the Huskies ahead by two, 59-58, with five seconds left.
• Elon was unable to get a tying shot off as the Huskies forced a Phoenix turnover on the next possession before adding a tally to its lead on a free throw to escape with a 61-58 victory.
 
UP NEXT
Elon closes out its three-game road trip with a visit to Long Island with a matchup versus Hofstra on Saturday, Feb. 22. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time and will stream on FloHoops.