Elon Men’s Basketball Dominates Towson, 69-48, To Advance To CAA Quarterfinals

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball defeated Towson, 69-48, in a dominant performance in the opening round of the 2021 CAA Tournament on Saturday, March 6. The Phoenix never trailed and led by as much as 25 in the win.

BOX SCORE

“I thought tonight was a huge step for us,” head coach Mike Schrage began. “A big challenge we made to our guys was to keep them [Towson] off of the offensive boards. For them to only have four offensive rebounds was the most exciting thing for me to see at halftime and then at the end of the game too. I thought our guys had a real business-like effort in the game tonight. You’ll take any win this time of year, so we’re excited to keep competing and play another day together.”

THE RUNDOWN
– Ikenna Ndugba scored the first points of the game after his three-pointer from the right wing found the bottom of the net. Darius Burford would score his first points a few moments later to give the Phoenix an early 5-0 lead.
– After a 6-2 run by Towson brought the score to 7-6, Elon responded with a 7-0 burst of its own to go up by eight. Three quick scores by Michael Graham, Kris Wooten and Federico Poser respectively keyed the spurt that gave Elon a 14-6 advantage with just over 10 minutes to play before halftime.
– Towson trimmed its deficit down to as little as three before a Federico Poser free throw sparked a 6-0 Elon run. After a quick three by Wooten pushed the lead back to seven, Chuck Hannah capped the burst with a tough layup in the paint to give the Phoenix a 20-11 advantage with 7:06 to play until the break.
– Both teams traded scores for the remainder of the first half, with Elon maintaining a 30-24 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of action.
– Early in the second half, the Phoenix used a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach on the strength of three-straight triples from Darius Burford, Hunter McIntosh and Kris Wooten respectively. The burst put Elon up by 18 with 13:43 to play in the game.
– The Phoenix swelled its lead to as much as 25 late in the second half and went on to win 69-48.

NOTES
– Hunter McIntosh led the way for Elon, posting 13 points, three rebounds and three assists in just under 30 minutes of action.
– Darius Burford added 11 points and three rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
– Ikenna Ndugba and Hunter Woods combined for 13 points,13 rebounds and four assists in the win.
– Simon Wright and Michael Graham finished with seven points each, while Kris Wooten and Federico Poser finished with six points apiece.
– Elon held a 17-0 advantage in points off turnovers and a 26-18 advantage in points in the paint.
– Ben Daugherty scored his first points of the season late in the contest, finishing with two points and one rebound.
– The Phoenix is currently on a five-game winning streak and has now won at least one game in the CAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons.
– During the first media timeout of the game, sophomore guard Hunter McIntosh and freshman guard Darius Burford were honored for being named to the All-CAA Second Team and All-Rookie Team respectively.

UP NEXT
Elon will return to action at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 7, to take on No. 1 seed James Madison in the Quarterfinals round of the 2021 CAA Tournament.