ELON, N.C. – A second-half surge by Monmouth spoiled Senior Day for the Elon University men's basketball team as the Phoenix fell to the Hawks, 85-70, on Saturday afternoon, March 2, at Schar Center.
 
Elon closed out the regular season with a 13-18 ledger overall while finishing 6-12 in CAA play. TK Simpkins led the Phoenix with 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting while also grabbing nine rebounds with five assists. Nick Dorn joined Simpkins in double figures with 11 points.
 
The Hawks (17-14, 10-8 CAA) were led by Xander Rice, who matched Simpkins for game-high honors with 31 points with 22 of those coming in the second half. Rice paced five players in double figures as Jaret Valencia had 15 points and Nikita Konstantynovskyi added 13. Jack Collins and Jakari Spence both had 10 to round out the top scorers for Monmouth.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• Monmouth opened the game with a 10-3 lead. Elon scored the first basket of the game on a Simpkins three-pointer, but the Hawks reeled off 10 straight before forcing an Elon timeout with 15:56 left in the opening period.
• The Phoenix however responded with a 16-2 run to take the lead at the under-12 media timeout. Dorn and Simpkins were the catalysts during the run, scoring 12 of the 16 points as the Phoenix led 19-12 with 11:06 left in the opening half.
• A layup by the Hawks' Cornelius Robinson Jr. cut Elon's lead to five, 19-14, but a pair of baskets by Max Mackinnon and Dorn pushed the Phoenix's advantage to nine, 23-14. A runner jumper in the lane by Spence pulled the Hawks within seven, 23-16, with 7:51 left in the first half.
• A 10-3 run afterward gave Elon its largest lead of the half, 33-19. Simpkins scored five points during the run before a three-pointer by Zac Ervin and a jump hook by Sam Sherry gave the Phoenix a 14-point lead with 5:27 left in the half.
• Monmouth answered to cut its deficit back to single digits. A three-pointer by Valencia started a 7-2 run to pull the Hawks within six, 35-29, capped by a Collins three-pointer with two minutes left in the period.
• A three-pointer by Isaac Harrell pushed the Phoenix's lead to nine, 38-29, before Rice made three free throws to put Elon's advantage back to six. The Phoenix ended the half with a Simpkins dunk off a Kendall Campbell feed to go into the locker room with a 40-32 lead.
• Elon increased its lead to 11 at the start of the second half, 47-36, after a layup from Sherry. The Hawks however went on a 10-0 run to pull within one, 47-46, forcing a Phoenix timeout with 15:16 left in the second half.
• Simpkins gave the Phoenix some breathing room on a jumper to put Elon ahead by four, 50-46. Monmouth took the lead on a Rice three-pointer and a jumper in the paint by Konstantynovskyi to move in front, 51-50.
• A pair of free throws from Mackinnon put the Phoenix back in front, 52-51, while another Harrell three-pointer gave the Phoenix a four-point cushion, 55-51. The Hawks tied the game on back-to-back baskets at 55-all before the under-12 media timeout in the second half.
• Monmouth took the lead on a Spence fastbreak layup with Rice adding to its advantage with a pair of free throws, 59-55. Ervin answered with a three-pointer to bring the Phoenix within one, 59-58.
• The Hawks however countered with a jumper by Robinson Jr. while Rice converted a three-point play to give Monmouth a six-point advantage, 64-58. Elon kept within striking distance, 66-62, after a layup by Mackinnon with 6:36 left to play.
• Spence pushed the Hawks' lead to six on a layup before a Rice three-point expanded it to nine, 71-62. Elon would only get as close as eight points for the remainder of the game as the Hawks pulled away with the 85-70 victory.
 
NOTES
• Simpkins became the first Phoenix player to reach 30 points since Darius Burford had 31 versus Drexel on Feb. 19, 2022. It was a season and career-high point total for the Brooklyn, N.Y., native, who also matched his season-high in rebounds with nine.
• Elon honored five members of its program during pregame with the team honoring student-athletes Rob Higgins, JaDun Michael and Zac Ervin along with managers Michael Buccellato and Trey Herenda.
• The Phoenix started a lineup of Simpkins, Mackinnon, Ervin, Michael and Sherry in honor of Senior Day with Higgins missing the game due to an injury.
• The Phoenix had 23 points scored off the bench compared to six to the Hawks. Elon also knocked down 11 three-pointers, its 10^th game of double-digit threes.
 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix begins play at the 2024 Jersey Mike's CAA Men's Basketball Championship, beginning next week on Friday, March 8 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. Elon is locked in as the No. 11 seed for the upcoming tournament and will play next Friday at 4:30 p.m. versus the No. 14 seed. The game will air on FloHoops.