Isenbarger Reaches 1,000-Point Milestone; Elon Men’s Basketball Wins Fourth Straight

ELON, N.C.Jack Isenbarger became the 35th player in Elon University men’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points and led a second-half charge to help the Phoenix to its fourth straight win in an 85-61 blowout victory over Chattanooga on Thursday night, Jan. 24, inside Alumni Gym.

Isenbarger pushed Elon (12-7, 5-2 Southern Conference) out to a 23-point lead over Chattanooga (8-12, 3-4 Southern Conference) with 12:48 remaining after hitting his fourth three-pointer in under three minutes make it a 63-40 game. Isenbarger connected on a total of six shots from beyond the arc in the second period.

With the win, Elon moves into a tie for first place in the SoCon North Division with Samford, who fell to UNCG tonight.

“Our offensive is predicated on being aggressive and attacking and I was fortunate to get some open looks tonight because of that,” Isenbarger said. “We have great shooters on this team who work hard after practice to get shots off and I think that paid off tonight.”

In all, Isenbarger ended the night 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, scoring a game-high 23 points. The Zionsville, Ind., native recorded his 1,000th-career point with 9:04 remaining in the first half on a three from the top of the key. He is the first player to reach the milestone since Drew Spradlin, whom he passed tonight on Elon’s all-time three-point chart. Isenbarger now has 187 career triples.

“We played hard for 40 minutes and we’re very pleased with the win,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “We had good play throughout the game and I felt like we shot our way through mistakes. That’s not something you can always rely on to win games, but it’s fun to watch when some of our guys get hot like that.”

Lucas Troutman scored in double figures for the 18th straight game, ending the night with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Troutman also hauled down a team-high eight boards and tallied three blocked shots.

Tanner Samson tied a career-high mark with 12 points in the win, while Ryley Beaumont was the fourth Phoenix player in double figures with 13 points.

Elon connected on 13 shots from three-point land, the most against a Division I opponent this season and most since hitting 16 versus Bridgewater on Nov. 13. Elon shot 41 percent from beyond the arc in the win, its best performance versus a league foe this season.

As a team, Elon dished out a total of 20 assists, the most against a Division I opponent in a single game this season. Sebastian Koch recorded a game-high six assists, one off his career-high mark.

Isenbarger reached the 1,000-point plateau at the 9:04 mark of the first half after burying a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the maroon and gold a 26-16 lead.

A 50-percent clip from the field in the opening frame helped Elon to a 10-point lead, 38-28, at intermission. Troutman and Beaumont combined for 24 of Elon’s 38 points, as the duo tallied 13 and 11, respectively.

The Phoenix caught fire to open the second session, opening up a 16-point lead with 14:24 remaining after Isenbarger buried a three to give his team a 54-38 lead, forcing a Mocs timeout.

Elon led by as many as 26 points in the second half, shooting 47 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to keep the Mocs at arm’s length and secure its fourth straight win.

The Phoenix returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 26, when it heads to Charleston, S.C., to face The Citadel.