ELON, N.C. – Picked to finish second to last in the conference entering into the season, the doubt has only fueled the blistering hot start for the Elon University men's basketball team.
The Phoenix protected Schar Center during a nationally televised win over Campbell on Monday night, improving its home record to 7-0. Elon moves to 12-5 and 3-1 in the CAA, marking its best overall start in Division I history, and the best start to conference play since the 2017-18 season.
Head coach
Billy Taylor explained that despite the preseason doubt, his ball club continues to show they are a better team than anyone thought entering the year.
"Our guys have a lot of pride, and they're competitive," Taylor said. "From talking to these guys, they want to win, and they believe in our team and what we can do."
Senior forward
Sam Sherry, who scored a team-high 23 points and secured 10 boards, said the team always tries to maintain a "forward mindset" as he believes the team has continued to prove its ability to compete at the highest level.
"We're showing people who we really are," Sherry said. "We're a tough team. We can compete with anybody and win against anybody. And we showed it here tonight. We're going to show it going into the future."
The offensive attack was spearheaded by Sherry and sophomore guard
Nick Dorn, who combined for 45 points.
Dorn, who went 1-of-9 from three-point range in Elon's loss to William & Mary, opened the scoring early, notching the first nine Phoenix points.
Following his three makes at the foul line less than 30 seconds into the game, Dorn's first field goal make came by way of a deep, side-step buzzer-beating three on the left wing less than a minute later. The sophomore shooting guard smirked toward the crowd as he jogged back on defense.
On the ensuing offensive trip, he nailed a wide-open look from the left corner. After the make, it was clear that Elon's leading scorer – who scored just 12 against the Tribe – was back to his normal standards.
"It just felt good to see two [three-pointers] go in [early]," Dorn said. "It just felt good after the night I had at William and Mary."
Despite his rough shooting performance in Williamsburg, Dorn explained the support he has from his teammates gives him confidence and allows him to heat up quickly on any given night.
"I don't think they've ever told me not to shoot the ball," Dorn said.
"It felt like it was going to go in every time I let it go, but that's how every shot has to be," Dorn added.
Though Dorn had Elon rolling early and scored 12 points by the end of the opening 20 minutes, Sherry found rhythm en route to a perfect first half, going 5-of-5 from the field to add 12 points of his own.
Sherry, who has improved his scoring average by 5.1 points – 9.5 to 14.6 – from last season, credited his teammates for finding him through off-ball movement. He explained that because the team was executing actions properly, it gave him good looks to score.
"Guys were finding me in the right position. Guys were making great cuts," Sherry said. "When I get it in the post, we made an emphasis to get movement off the ball, and guys were open on cuts, and it was in turn freeing me up too."
"I don't get free if those guys don't make those cuts," Sherry added. "Props to them that they did their jobs and helped me out."
Taylor said although Sherry might not have admitted it due to his modesty, the senior forward consistently stepped up and made several big plays throughout the game.
Though Campbell stuck around in the game, the Camels never led and were only tied with the Phoenix for the first 27 seconds. Elon built a substantial lead early, but the Camels made it a two-point game with 9:29 to go in the opening period.
Taylor explained that because Elon had eight turnovers in the first half, he was pleased with his team cleaning up the ball security throughout the game. After Campbell had the game at a two-point deficit, the Phoenix turned the rock over just twice throughout the remaining nine-and-a-half minutes, and managed to take a 42-34 lead into the locker room.
Throughout the second period, Elon turned the ball over just three times. Campbell competed in the second, but never trimmed the Phoenix lead down to more than six. After two makes by Sherry at the 7:01 mark made it a 68-57 advantage, Elon maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the evening en route to its 81-68 win.
"[We] still have to learn how to finish the game the right way, so we don't have some of those miscues or fouls," Taylor said. "But again, to win by double digits in league play, you've got to be happy with that performance."
Sherry scored 11 in the second half and ripped down five rebounds, totaling 23 points and 10 boards, marking his third straight double-double, and his sixth of the season. Five have come in the last six games.
Additionally, Sherry's 8-of-9 shooting performance, or .899%, puts him in a tie for second place all-time for Elon's single game field goal percentage record. Sherry has scored 20 points and 10 rebounds three times already this season.
Dorn finished with 22 points and went 5-of-10 from deep. He has made at least one three-pointer in 29 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 27, 2024.
The third usual double-digit scorer for the Phoenix in sophomore guard
TJ Simpkins racked up 12 points, dished out six assists and even managed to secure eight boards.
Elon found an unexpected scoring punch from freshman forward
Brayden Crump, who had an efficient season-high 11-point outing, going 5-of-8 from the field in just 14 minutes.
"He's a really hard worker," Sherry said of Crump. "He's in the gym all the time, motivates me and my other teammates to get in the gym. He's a guy who's putting in the time on and off the court."
Though the potent offensive attack was impressive, as the outing marked the eighth time Elon has scored 70 or more points this season, the defense was anchored by Sherry and frontcourt mate, graduate student center
Matt Van Komen.
The 7'4" Van Komen has swatted 45 shots this season and ranks sixth nationally in total blocks. The towering center constantly makes an impact on defense, even if it does not always show up on the box score, as anytime he is on the floor, he is deterring and altering shots. His presence was evident on the Camels inability to convert at the rim, as the team made just 12 of its 25 layup attempts.
In addition to protecting the basket and serving as a deterrent like no other, his ability to fight on the glass, averaging 8.8 rebounds, has led the Phoenix to becoming the fourth best rebounding team in DI. Elon's 43.47 rebounds per game trails just No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida and No. 19 Illinois.
Van Komen was a game-high +22 in 26 minutes played. He grabbed 10 boards, poured in seven points and totaled three blocks, moving him into ninth place all-time on the Elon single season block list.
The big man even showed off his passing skills and managed to find Sherry on a high-low entry pass to his fellow big man.
Taylor explained the importance his gargantuan anchor in the paint provides. With his rim protection, ability to block and alter shots, in addition to his defensive rebounding prowess, the skillset Van Komen brings to the table is invaluable.
"[He] helps us tremendously," Taylor said of Van Komen. "Again, obviously, takes a lot of pressure off Sam so Sam's not just the only one banging and playing physical in there."
The Phoenix outrebounded the Camels 30 to 17 on the defensive boards, and 40 to 31 in total. While Taylor praised Van Komen and Sherry, who combined for 20 boards, he said he was pleased with the rebounding and defensive effort from the rest of the rotation.
Despite the Camels shooting at a 32% clip from deep this season, the Phoenix defense managed to hold Campbell to six three-pointers on 23% from beyond the arc. The Phoenix ranks eleventh nationally in field goal percentage defense.
"I really thought overall our team effort defensively on the glass, being connected, really helped us and we did a good job getting out to their three-point shooters," Taylor said.
For most of the season, Elon's offensive attack has been led by a quartet of double-digit scorers in Sherry, Dorn and sophomore guards TJ and
TK Simpkins. However, TK had recently been sidelined due to an injury until the tilt against the Camels.
The 13.4-point per game scorer suited up for his first game since Dec. 18 at ETSU, in which he sustained the injury. TK came off the bench and played just 15 minutes. It was clear he had the green light, as he put up ten shots, scoring four points and dishing out four assists. Taylor was pleased to have an essential piece of his team back on the court.
"When you're missing a guy like that from your lineup, even though he was on a minute restriction because he's working his way back, it's hard for anybody to not have [their] best player on the floor," Taylor said of TK.
"We were able to really weather quite a bit without him to start," Taylor added. "We're just excited to have him back on the floor."
The Phoenix will begin a weekend road swing starting at Drexel (10-7, 2-2) on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.
"[We're] just trying to put it all together and just play our best basketball," Taylor said.
"And again, I think the best is still yet to come for our team."
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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