Two nights after clinching its second North Division title in school history, the Elon University men’s basketball team lost a hard fought battle to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 72-68, at the McKenzie Arena on Sunday, Feb. 23.
The Phoenix struggled to defend the penetration to the basket by freshman guard Gee McGhee. He connected on 13 of 19 free throw attempts and led the Mocs with 24 points.
Junior forward Ryley Beaumount continued his torrid scoring streak, posting 20 points as he recorded his fourth game of 17 points or more in the past six contests.
Elon came out of the gates on fire from the field, building an early seven-point lead after senior guard Josh Bonney connected on a jumper with 10:58 remaining in the first half. But junior guard Jack Isenbarger got into foul trouble after committing his second personal foul with 7:43 remaining until the intermission. This left the Phoenix without the services of arguably its two best players for the last seven plus minutes of the first half with Isenbarger in foul trouble and junior forward and potential SoCon Player of the Year candidate Lucas Troutman out for the game as he nursed a sore ankle.
The Mocs took advantage of Isenbarger stuck on the sidelines, tying the score at 32 at halftime. The Phoenix nailed an incredulous eight 3-pointers in the first half despite the score being knotted at 32.
The Phoenix had no answer for McGhee in the second half. After he scored 13 first half points, including knocking down 8 of 10 free throw attempts, he continued his aggressive play, driving to the rack and forcing more Phoenix fouls. McGhee shot another nine free throws after halftime and finished with a game-high 24 points. The Mocs, who are the top rebounding and free throws attempted team in the Southern Conference, worked towards its strengths in this contest. The Mocs outrebounding the Phoenix 32-22 while attempting 15 more free throws (29-14) than Elon.
With the loss, the Phoenix (19-9, 12-4) is now locked in as the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament.
On Wednesday night, Feb. 27 at Alumni Gym, Elon will host Davidson College (21-7, 15-1), which is locked in as the #1 seed for the SoCon Tournament. With a win on Wednesday, the Phoenix will have 20 wins on its resume, which would be the first time the program would have accomplished this feat in 25 years.