DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Elon University men's basketball team fell to Army West Point, 83-78, in the opening round of the 2025 Purple College Basketball Invitational (CBI) on Sunday, March 23 at the Ocean Center.
 
The Phoenix finished the season with a 17-16 record, while the Black Knights moved to 17-15 on the year.
 
Sam Sherry led three Elon players in double figures with his 23 points while adding a double-double with 14 rebounds. Isaac Harrell had a career-high 20 points while shooting 6-of-7 from three-point range while Andrew King added 18 to round out the double-digit scorers for Elon.
 
Army's Jalen Rucker finished with a game-best 27 points and six assists.
 
THE RUNDOWN
• The Phoenix led 17-9 after a Sherry three-pointer with 13:18 left to go in the first half. Elon expanded its lead to double-digits after Brayden Crump made a tip-in with 11:24 left in the opening period.
• Elon saw its lead grow as large as 15 in the first half after Harrell knocked down a triple with 6:52 remaining in the period to give the Phoenix a 32-17 lead. The Black Knights battled for the remainder of the first period, trimming Elon's lead to nine, 39-30, at the break.
• The Phoenix started the second half strong on a 14-3 run including making six straight shots to push its lead to 21, 51-30, with 17:01 left in the game. Elon led by 20, 53-33, after King made a driving layup with 16:36 left in the contest.
• Army responded with a 19-2 run over the next 3:43, making it a three-point game after a three from Rucker cut the Phoenix's lead to 55-52. Crump added a jump hook to push the Phoenix back up by five, but the Black Knights answered with a 7-0 run to take a 59-57 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.
• Another three from Harrell put the maroon and gold back in front, 60-59, with Sherry adding a pair of free throws to give Elon a three-point advantage, 62-59. The Black Knights responded with an 11-3 run and took a 70-65 lead after a pair of free throws with 6:10 left in the game.
• Elon made it a one-point game, 70-69, after a layup from King and a jumper from Harrell. The Black Knights rattled off seven unanswered over the next 2:41 to go up by eight, 77-69, before the Phoenix worked to make it a four-point game, 78-74, on a Harrell three-pointer with 1:11 remaining.
• Both teams traded baskets or free throws in the final minute with Elon twice getting as close as four points, but Army would not relinquish the lead and advanced to the next round with the 83-78 win.
 
NOTES
• The double-double was the eighth of the season for Sherry and the 11^th of his career. The 14 rebounds tied his career-high while adding his seventh 20-point game of the season.
• Harrell tied his season-high in minutes played (33) while grabbing seven boards with three assists in his sixth start of the season.
• Brayden Crump made his first career start for the maroon and gold, playing 31 minutes while scoring six points with five rebounds.
• The Phoenix shot 48 percent overall from the field (26-of-54) and 47 percent from downtown (9-of-19). Elon also connected on 85 percent of its free throws (17-of-20).
• Freshman Trey O'Neil played a season-high 19 minutes and led the Phoenix with four assists in the contest.
• Elon falls to 0-2 all-time in postseason games at the DI level. The Phoenix previously lost at Canisius, 69-53, at the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) in 2013.
• Elon finishes its year with its first winning full season since going 18-14 in 2016-17, excluding the truncated 2020-21 COVID-19 campaign.