ELON, N.C. – It was clear that no one on the Elon men’s basketball team forgot about the loss they suffered at Appalachian State just nine days ago. The Phoenix scored the first 11 points on Monday night and never looking back, ending a seven-game losing streak to the Mountaineers with a 82-59 rout of Appalachian State on Fan Appreciation Night in a packed house at Alumni Gym.
Elon (13-10, 8-4) dominated all aspects of the game, never trailing and getting double figures from four in the lopsided victory. Sophomore Sebastian Koch drained four three-pointers for a season-high 21 points.
“The loss a week ago left a bad taste in our mouths. Last time we played App, we let them play their game,” Koch commented. “We tried to get in our rhythm tonight and play our game. We are finding our chemistry as a team.”
The Phoenix has won five of its last six and tonight’s victory made it a clean sweep in this three-game home stand as Elon maintained its position atop the Southern Conference North Division standings.
With a dominating performance on the glass, Elon was especially active on the offensive end of the floor. The Phoenix dumped in 18 second-chance points on 13 offensive boards and had a field day on 17 Appalachian State (9-14, 5-8) turnovers. Elon came up with 26 points off Mountaineer miscues and held its own turnover tally to only eight. Eleven Elon players had a rebound as the Phoenix held a 38-28 overall edge.
Senior Drew Spradlin nailed 6-of-13 from the floor for 18 points while sophomore Jack Isenbarger extended his double-figure scoring streak to seven straight games with 11 points. Running the point for the ill Austin Hamilton, Isenbarger had seven assists to only one turnover. Elon moved the ball particularly well this evening with 21 assists on 28 buckets.
Defensively, Elon held leading scorers Omar Carter and Jamaal Trice to three and four points, respectively. The two each had 20 points in the meeting on January 28. Nathan Healy was the lone Mountaineer in double figures with 14 points.
Elon capitalized on early turnovers, a beautiful fast break finish by Koch part of an 11-0 run to start the Phoenix thumping. App finally got its first bucket, a three from Healy, at the 15:23 mark, but it almost felt too late as the Phoenix continued to hammer away.
A driving layup by Isenbarger made it 18-5 at 13:04, before ASU made what would be its largest run of the night. App scored seven straight to trim the deficit to six, 18-12, but that would be as close as the Mountaineers would get. Elon responded with six unanswered, part of a 15-4 run, and the advantage was back to double figures where it would remain for the rest of the game.
Brett Ervin nailed a deep three from the right wing to send the Phoenix into the half on a high note and holding a 39-23 lead. The energy was the same when the team returned from the locker room, a 7-0 spurt making sure the Mountaineers knew who was in control. Lucas Troutman flew over two players in black and gold and slammed home an offensive rebound to bring the Elon faithful to their feet.
Elon would grow its lead to as many as 28 points before the evening was over.
“I think I am most happy about the way we competed for 40 minutes,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “We played aggressively the entire first half and we came out with the same energy in the second half which is something we haven’t always done. We won the 50-50 battle. In the grind of the conference season, you have to win the rebound and loose ball contest. We got production tonight out of our loose ball recovery.
The win was the first over Appalachian for this current group of Elon players. The Phoenix’s last victory over the Mountaineers was February 14, 2008.
Elon will head on the road for the next three games, beginning with a trip to Tennessee for a battle with Chattanooga on Thursday, February 9 at 7 p.m. in McKenzie Arena. Remember to join us at The Fat Frogg tomorrow evening to hear thoughts from head coach Matt Matheny about the home stretch of the season. The weekly radio show begins at 6 p.m.