Elon 80, UNCG 72
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Several members of the current Elon men's basketball team were not even born the last time Elon opened the season with a 6-2 mark. But, with an 80-72 victory against the host UNCG Spartans at the Greensboro Coliseum on Monday night, these players have now accomplished something that hasn't happened in the last 20 years of Elon basketball. And these boys are just getting started.
Behind 19 points apiece from sophomores Lucas Troutman and Jack Isenbarger, the Phoenix held off a feisty late rally by the Spartans (2-7, 0-3) to win its third straight and improve to 2-0 in Southern Conference action. Troutman was an impressive 8-of-9 from the field, including a one-handed follow dunk that brought a rowdy group of Elon supporters to its feet. The Phoenix shot 50 percent from the field and sealed the victory with clutch free throw shooting, connecting on 12-of-14 (85.7) from the stripe.
Some of those big shots came in the form of three-pointers. After UNCG had overcome a nine-point deficit to grab the lead, rookie Austin Hamilton and sophomore Sebastian Koch drained back-to-back triples midway through the second half to put Elon back in front for good.
Koch, who sat for the majority of the first half due to foul trouble, came up with 10 points and nine rebounds in only 19 minutes. Hamilton also picked up early fouls but he found teammates for big buckets in the second half that helped grow the Elon lead to as many as 14 points. The point guard finished with seven points and four assists.
The Elon defense had its hands full with UNCG's Trevis Simpson who dropped 27 points, including a stretch of 13 straight late in the contest to help UNCG pull within four in the final 90 seconds. The Phoenix has held opponents to under 40 percent shooting in each victory, the Spartans being no different. UNCG shot 25-of-67 (37.3) and despite coming up with 19 offensive boards, managed only 15 second-chance points. Elon wasn't afraid to stand in to pressure underneath the basket, taking four charges, include three in the first 10 minutes of action.
It was a game of runs and after Elon took a 38-34 lead into the break, UNCG came out firing and scored three treys in an 11-6 run that put the Spartans in front 45-43 with 15:40 to play. Isenbarger answered with the three that he is becoming known for and Troutman finished an and-one to put the Phoenix back ahead, 49-45.
Two quick buckets by UNCG and a near turnover forced an Elon timeout and Hamilton and Koch answered the call of duty on the next two Phoenix possessions. The treys started an 18-4 stretch that gave Elon what seemed to be a comfortable 67-53 advantage with 6:51 remaining. And then the Simpson show began as he scored 13 straight and the UNCG press forced several Phoenix turnovers. Despite seeing its lead dwindle to as few as four, 74-70, Elon could not be shaken at the line as Phoenix shooters hit their final six freebies en route to the victory.
UT San Antonio 75, Samford 52
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team jumped out to a quick 14-3 advantage against the UTSA Roadrunners on Monday, but went cold from the field midway through the opening half and eventually suffered a 74-52 nonconference loss at the Pete Hanna Center. With the defeat, the Bulldogs dropped to 0-4 when playing at home this season.
Samford (1-5) was paced offensively Monday by sophomore forward Tyler Hood who scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' native of Kingston, Tenn., tallied a second straight, career-high outing after he registered eight points against Western Carolina on Thursday.
Hood made the first start of his Samford career Monday and grabbed a personal-best seven rebounds. He also handed out three assists, connected on a trio of 3-point baskets and blocked two shots in 28 minutes of playing time.
Samford led 27-26 at the half, but was outscored 48-25 in the second period as UTSA (5-4) shot a sizzling 76 percent (19-of-25) from the floor in the final 20 minutes of play.
The Roadrunners tallied their second straight victory Monday and finished with four players scoring in double figures. Jeromie Hill led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, while Kannon Burrage followed with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
UTSA's Alex Vouyoukas added 11 points, while Stephen Franklin nearly tallied a double-double with 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot.
The Roadrunners turned in a season-high 60-percent outing from the field, while Samford finished with a 30.9-percent shooting performance. UTSA concluded the game shooting 30-of-50 from the field and 4-of-11 from beyond the arc.
The Bulldogs attempted 41 of its 55 field-goal attempts from 3-point range and connected on 12 of the long range shots. Samford tallied a 29.3 percentage from beyond the arc.
"We missed open shots against the zone and our energy waned," Tillette said. "That was unacceptable and we have to be better at that on both ends of the floor. We just had an awful second half of basketball. We had a really good first half, but we need to play the entire 40 minutes and we need to get better. I thought that Tyler Hood came in and was a real positive for us tonight."
UTSA's expansive 2-3 zone forced the Bulldogs to make their living from the 3-point line Monday, while the Roadrunners outscored Samford 30-8 in the paint.
The Bulldogs' starting lineup consisted of two freshmen, two sophomores and senior Jeffrey Merritt. Throughout the game, Samford played four true freshmen, one redshirt freshman and three sophomores.