The Elon University men's basketball team returns home at 8 p.m. Friday, in Alumni Gym to face Division III University of New Jersey Rutgers-Camden.
The Phoenix will continue its non-conference play, as the team's first five games on the schedule are against teams from outside the Southern Conference.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst defeated Elon 85-67 Nov. 11 in both teams' season openers. The Phoenix, playing in front of a hostile crowd in the historic Curry Hicks Cage, led UMass 43-39 at halftime but couldn't stop a 19-2 second-half run by the Minutemen.
"I thought we came out with good energy and I don't think we backed down," senior guard Drew Spradlin said. "We weren't mature and experienced enough to stop (the run). We need to figure out as a team how to stop runs."
Head coach Matt Matheny said the Phoenix kept its composure in the first half but didn't respond well to adversity in the second half, struggling with a loud crowd and a "very long, athletic team committed to running and pressing" in UMass.
"We didn't answer the chaotic bell," he said. "We have to understand that we have to be competitively tough for 40 minutes."
Elon was playing from behind early in the second half and couldn't climb its way back, which is something this team will need to figure out, Matheny said.
"Our team is talented and potent and has quick strike potential," Matheny said." "That's something we haven't had in recent past. The more we understand that we can be a dangerous team."
Sophomore forward Lucas Troutman led Elon scorers with 15 points and Spradlin added 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman guard Austin Hamilton scored 12 points in 26 minutes off the bench in his first away game as a collegiate.
Hamilton and freshman guard Kevin Blake were thrown into a chaotic atmosphere in front of a sold-out crowd for their first road game against a pressing Atlantic 10 Conference team, Matheny said. Each showed good signs, as well as things to learn, Matheny said, such as quickly moving ahead to the next play.
"We had some really good positives," he said. "When you make a good play, that's great get to the next, and when you make a negative play, that's OK get to the next."
Elon's next three games are against non-conference opponents. After playing Rutgers-Camden at home, the Phoenix will play at Princeton University, an NCAA tournament team a year ago, Nov. 22, and at North Carolina State University Nov. 25.
Spradlin said the team is excited to play some tough teams early in the season.
"We want to play the best teams we can to get ready for the SoCon," Spradlin said. "We want to play better than we did (against UMass). I don't think we played to the level we're capable of."