By his historical standards, Elon University junior guard Jack Isenbarger had a dreadful 40 minutes of regulation shooting-wise.

So did his team.

But he was clutch in the five minutes that followed.

Isenbarger scored nine of his team-high 16

points in overtime to help the Elon Phoenix defeat the Florida Atlantic University Owls 62-59 in extra time of the EA Sports Maui Invitational Regional Games championship game.

When the Zionsville, Ind., native made just three of 18 shots (16.7 percent) in regulation, Elon head coach Matt Matheny did not have to say anything to him or motivate him in any way.

"Everybody in our program has confidence in Jack to shoot the ball," he said. "When he made the first one, that was a good sign. He got hot and felt very comfortable."

Isenbarger's cold regulation was part of a poor shooting day for the Phoenix. The Owls took a 31-22 lead into halftime after Elon had made just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) of its shots. Neither team was shooting particularly well, but FAU rode 11 first-half points from freshman guard Stefan Moody.

The Owls extended their lead to 39-27 with 13:02 left in regulation after Moody hit a shot. Twenty seconds later, Elon junior guard Sebastian Koch hit a three-pointer. It was just Elon's second successful trey of the game, but it was key.

"It was big in terms of changing the momentum towards our side," Isenbarger said. "Getting that lead under ten points was huge, and we knew if we kept fighting and kept looking to attack and take good shots that we could break them down and cut into the lead they had. That’s what we did."

It sparked a 12-0 run for the Phoenix over the next 4:13, capped by a big dunk from Regional Games Most Outstanding Player and Elon junior forward Lucas Troutman to tie the game at 39.

"We could feel movement in the crowd, movement in us that we’re going to get out of this," said Troutman, who had 14 points and eight rebounds. "I think shots had started falling. Maybe not every shot, but we’re hitting a shot here, shot there, and once you start hitting them, you know they’re coming, you know it’s going to happen, you just don’t know when."

Elon shot 32.4 percent from the field in the second half while limiting FAU to 23.8 percent and forcing nine Owls turnovers in the second frame. FAU turned the ball over 18 times in the game, several times in that 12-0 run.

"That number is something that we really hope we can get defensively," Matheny said of the turnovers. "We tried to really put pressure on them in the halfcourt. They got a big lead because we didn’t do a good enough job defensively. I felt like in the second half we did a lot better job with our arm extension, with the way we moved our feet, with the way we talked to each other, and we were able to get our hands on balls."

A back-and-forth final few minutes saw Elon take a 48-46 lead on an Isenbarger layup, just his third made shot of the game, with 1:58 left. FAU senior guard Greg Gantt tied it up 12 seconds later, then Troutman missed a floater as time expired pushed the game to overtime.

That's when Isenbarger took over.

Thirty-two seconds in, he hit a jumper that was originally counted as a three-pointer, but an official review changed it to a two-pointer. More back-and-forth play, including a trey that counted from Isenbarger, pushed the score to 57-56 with 1:41 left after FAU's Moody, who had a game-high 22 points, made one of two free throws. The Phoenix went down the court and Beaumont hit a big three-pointer to rile up the crowd and give Elon a four-point lead.

The Owls pulled within one point with 23.8 seconds left, but couldn't add anything else. Isenbarger hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Matheny said he was happy with the way his team fought for the victory and with the leadership that showed up, despite a poor shooting day (33.8 percent from the field, 22.7 percent from beyond the arc).

"I’m most pleased with the fact that, although we did not shoot the basketball very well, we fought and defended and really grinded out a victory," he said. "I feel like our veteran leadership was tremendous as we went down the stretch in regulation, in between regulation and overtime and then the overtime. Very, very pleased to be able to come out with a victory."

The Phoenix suffered what could have been a bad strike of fortune when sophomore guard Austin Hamilton hit his head hard on the floor diving for a loose ball just a few seconds after Koch's big three.

Fellow sophomore guard Kevin Blake came in and contributed a three-point play to the run. He drove the lane, elevated above two FAU defenders and laid the ball in the basket, drawing a foul and knocking down the free throw. Blake also started the overtime period and hit a layup 1:09 into the extra frame.

"He stepped up, definitely stepped in and took the place," Troutman said. "That’s the great thing about our bench. We’re deep and, if we have guys that get hurt and go, we have guys who can step in and take their place and Kevin did that. He didn’t back down at all."

Matheny said he was not sure of Hamilton's status post-game.

With the win, Elon starts the season 3-1 and is currently riding a three-game win streak. That, plus the Maui Invitational Regional Games championship, gives Matheny a great deal of confidence for the rest of the season, starting Wednesday against the University of South Carolina, a team the Phoenix defeated 58-52 last Nov. 15.

"We celebrated in the locker room because we won a tournament championship," Matheny said. "And that gives our players confidence. It’s a great honor to be affiliated with the Maui Invitational, and it’s a great honor to be a champion of the Maui Invitational. That gives us momentum, that gives our players confidence to win a game like this, and our players understand that we’ll be confident from it, but we’ve got a long way to go."

Game Notes

  • Elon sophomore forward Ryan Winters did not play after aggravating an injured left knee in warmups. He left Saturday night's game against Colgate University early with the injury.
  • It may have been the 47 missed shots that led to it, but the Phoenix pulled down 18 offensive rebounds, a number Troutman is quite happy with after Elon has struggled to win that glass battle. "That’s much better, I’m very happy with that," he said. "It’s been going on the past couple days. That’s definitely a lot better and that’s where it needs to stay and that’s where I’d like it to stay. I’d be perfectly fine with that."
  • This was the second straight game the Owls blew a halftime lead. FAU had a 33-8 lead over Coppin State University Saturday afternoon, and the Eagles fought back to tie before the Owls pulled away.
  • Koch finished the night with six points, eight rebounds and a game-high four assists. He only took four shots, but made two three-pointers, including the one to start the rally.