ELON, N.C. – A balanced attack helped the Elon University men’s basketball team knock off CAA preseason favorite Northeastern, 72-65, on Thursday night, Feb. 26, at Alumni Gym.
Elon (13-17, 5-12 CAA) shot a blistering 58 percent on 15-of-26 field goal attempts in the second half led by Elijah Bryant’s 12 points and Tanner Samson’s trio of triples in key moments.
Bryant ended the night with 16 points, eight boards and four assists, while Samson finished with 13 points, hitting three from deep in the win.
“I thought we came out ready to play and our guys were locked in,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “We had a vivid memory of our experience up in Boston where [Northeastern] really knocked us on our heels. But more important than that, we are trying to get better and take full advantage of the time remaining in the season to make a statement about who we are.”
The Phoenix took a nine-point advantage and forced a Northeastern timeout with 8:54 remaining in the first period following a Jack Anton up-and-under layup to make it a 19-10 game.
Elon led by as many as 11 points, but the Huskies answered with a 16-2 run over a five-minute span down the stretch of the first half to take a 26-23 lead with less than two minutes to play.
Dmitri Thompson’s short 10-footer with less than 30 seconds on the clock and a defensive stop in the waning moments helped the maroon and gold carry a 28-27 lead into the locker room at intermission. Thompson scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 17 minutes of action.
Thompson struck again with a key bucket for Elon with 12:12 on the clock that gave his squad a 46-34 edge, forcing a NU timeout.
NU managed to pull within three with 5:35 remaining on a Scott Eatherton bucket, but Elon responded with a Christian Hairston jumper and Austin Hamilton three to reclaim an eight-point lead and close out the Huskies down the stretch.
Elon won the battle on the glass, 33-32, in addition to winning the turnover battle, 15-12.
Elon wraps up the regular season at home on Saturday night at 7 p.m. against UNCW for Senior Night.