ELON, N.C. – Coming off its sixth straight win on Thursday night, the Elon University men’s basketball team returns to Alumni Gym and looks to stay atop the Southern Conference North Division on Saturday, Feb. 2, when the Phoenix hosts the Samford Bulldogs for a 7 p.m. tip.
Elon (14-7, 7-2 SoCon) vs. Samford (7-14, 5-3 SoCon)
Site: Elon, N.C.
Arena (Capacity): Alumni Gym (1,607)
Series: Samford leads, 7-1
Last Meeting: February 11, 2012, at Samford – Samford won, 87-78
THE SERIES: Saturday night marks the ninth all-time meeting between Elon and Samford in a series the Bulldogs lead, 7-1. Elon’s lone win over Samford came on Jan. 8, 2011, inside Alumni Gym in the form of a 67-54 decision. The Phoenix has never won at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala., and will look to remedy that on Feb. 21.
LAST MEETING: Despite shooting 65 percent in the second half, the Phoenix could not stave off the hot-shooting Bulldogs in the last meeting between the two schools on Feb. 11, 2012, as Samford came away with an 87-78 win at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford shot 56 percent from the field for the game and knocked down 12 three-pointers in the win, as a 15-point first-half deficit proved to be too much for the Phoenix to overcome.
APPROACHING A MILESTONE: Lucas Troutman is looking to become the second Elon player this season and 36th all-time to reach 1,000 career points, as the junior from Belton, S.C., enters Saturday’s contest with 995 career points. Jack Isenbarger reached the milestone on Jan. 24 in a win over Chattanooga, as he went into Elon’s last home game five points away from the milestone. Elon is looking to become the second school in the Southern Conference with two 1,000-point scorers on its roster. The only other school in the league to have more than one 1,000-point scorer is Davidson, who currently has three.
LOOKING BACK: Elon staved off a late run by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum, edging out the Spartans, 72-66. Jack Isenbarger hit a three-pointer with 1:31 left after Elon trailed late, giving the Phoenix its final lead of the game. Elon came up with key stops late and hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win, its sixth straight overall and six straight over the Spartans.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following Saturday’s game against Samford, Elon hits the road for its next two contests at Wofford (Feb. 7) and Furman (Feb. 9).
WINNING WAYS: Elon’s current six-game winning streak is the longest this season and longest since the program won seven straight during the 2005-06 season. A victory on Saturday for Elon would equal the team’s win total from last season.