Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Jan. 22, 2014, edition 1 / Page 24
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I'i' •' ♦ ' ■* ■' '>A *» : *■ 4 ._, ■ ■■:^- ■::#: , V ♦v - ■ * *V ^ * *5. s'- -# Wednesday, January 22, 2014 • page 24 Elon happy but not satisfied after historic Tommy Hamzik Sports Editor As the final fans left a sold-out Alumni Gym following Elon University’s 84-74 loss to No. 15 University of Massachusetts on Jan. 18, many held their heads high. The Phoenix was coming off a historic 87- 85 overtime win at Davidson College on Jan. 16 and held its ground a Top 20 team, the first ranked opponent that had ever visited Elon. When asked about where the team is as a whole, senior forward Lucas Troutman gath ered his thoughts about the historic week for the program and was able to put it all into perspective. “We’re not content with where we’re at,” Troutman said. “We still want to get bet ter. But we’ve made drastic improvements to where we were starting to where we are at now,” he said. “Defensively and offensively, we’ve struggled moving. Now, we’re getting to the basket, getting those scores. Now, we have to bring back the defense too and get those stops, get those steals, and cut out some of those fouls to put us in the game.” The Phoenix is 10-9 for the season, but 3-1 where it matters - in the Southern Con ference. From here on out, there’s nothing but conference games on the schedule. All of those lead up to the SoCon Tournament in Asheville which will take place March 7-10. The win over Davidson was a massive step forward in the SoCon. The Phoenix made a statement to the entire league by coming back fi-om a 14-point deficit with less than five minutes left to not only force overtime but hang on and win in a hostile environ- The post presense of UMass led the Minutemen to an ment. In doing so, Elon ended Davidson’s 23-game home SoCon winning streak and posted a vvin inside Belk Arena for the first time in 10 games. “The hard thing is now we have to go and focus one game at a time,” senior guard Jack Isenbarger said after beating Davidson. “It’s easy to get excited. It’s going to be a fight ev ery time you play a conference game.” The Phoenix will have to go through Da- ■vfidson at least one more time — a March 1 tilt in Alumni Gym — before the season wraps. But the Wildcats aren’t the only op ponent that Elon has to worry about in the SoCon. Next on the slate is a Jan. 23 matchup on the road with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Mocs currently sit atop the league standings with a mark of 6-0. Also approaching are challenging road tests at Samford University and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Western Carolina University, which beat Elon on Jan. 4, pays a MEAGAN CASAVANT i Staff Photographer 84-74 win over Elon on Jan. 18. visit to Alumni Gym, as does Wofford Col lege, Samford and Davidson. “Conference play is unpredictable,” senior guard Sebastian Koch said. “Anything can happen. Every team is good.” Elon coach Matt Matheny said he was concerned about the mindset of his team fol lowing the monumental Davidson win. The Phoenix had nationally-ranked UMass com ing in to Alumni Gym less than 48 hours later, and had just exhausted nearly every bit of energy to eke out the overtime tvin. “I worry about everything,” Matheny said. “Coming off of that victory, I was concerned going into Friday’s practice that there’d be too much giddiness and not enough prepara tion. I thought our guys prepared pretty well. I did not see signs of fatigue. I thought our guys played really hard.” Elon started the UMass game in a hole, 7-0, after an alley-oop in the opening seconds sparked some Minutemen momentum. But the Phoenix did not give in, cutting the defi cit to as few as seven points multiple times the final minutes. “You just have to stay focused,” Koch sa'! after the game. “We came back and m» it a close game. We want to be a team tl punches the other team in the mouth, aiii today we got punched.” t Elon has come a long way since droppit' 114 points on Division III Washington^ Lee University to open the season in NoveA* ber. Through setbacks to teams like Canis'O College and Division II Metro State Univ sity, Matheny has said that the team is s'^ grovidng and taking things one day at a tin^ Big-name opponents the Phoenix 1^ faced this year include No. 21 University^] Colorado, Georgetovm University, Nor^ Duke University and now No. 15 UMi ' Elon lost all four of those games, but Trc^ man acknowledged that there’s more just winning and losing when you play tes^^ like that. “We went into those games to accomp®*^ something and that was to get better,”Tr(4t man said. “That was to make ourselves be^^ for conference play which is what matP^ It’s great playing those big teams, but though we weren’t able to pull anything I we were able to pull stuff out of it. That’si ing to help us with the conference and 1 us in the next couple years.” With preseason aspirations of win the SoCon and reaching the NCAA Tor ment in mind, taking something out of| game is vital to Elon’s success. Whethej perfecting the motion offense or getting I one extra loose ball, the Phoenix hope ery improvement will show down the roJ March. Elon beat Davidson on the road for the first time since entering the Division I ranks. CAROLINE OLNEY | Photo Editor Davidson Final Score: Elon 87, Davidson 85 - OT Field Goal Pet.: Elon 50.7%, Davidson 43.4% Leading scorers: Elon - Troutman 28 pts.. Davidson - Brooks 28 pis. UMass Final Score: UMass 84, Elon 74 Field Goal Pet.: UMass 46.6%, Elon 34.4% Leading scorers: UMass - Lalanne 23. Elon - Troutman 19 imn nde GRAPHIC BY KAITLIN DUNN i internatio'
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