In the last three minutes and one second of the Elon University men’s basketball team’s loss to the College of Charleston in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament March 10, Elon senior guard Josh Bonney went off.
He scored eight points in the final stretch, trying to spark a Phoenix comeback, but the Cougars’ lead was too large.
“I was just trying to attack and trying to keep us in it the best I could, just do my part,” he said.
Bonney ended the game with 15 points, tying a season high in a rough senior year.
The Houston, Texas native came to Elon back in 2008, making him the only player on this season’s roster that played under former head coach Ernie Nestor. He started 19 games and averaged 5.4 points and 3.1 assists per game his freshman year.
Then, Nestor was fired and Matt Matheny was hired as the head coach prior to the 2009-2010 season. Bonney started just seven games his second season but still averaged 5.7 points per game. After playing in two games his junior year and taking a redshirt after an injury, he played in 26 games in the 2011-2012 season without starting once.
This season was a similar situation. He played in 26 games, made one start on Senior Night and averaged 3.6 points per game in 8.6 minutes per contest. Not a whole lot of action.
But in the last two SoCon Tournaments, he shined.
Last season, he scored 13 points and had seven assists in two tournament games, a win against Georgia Southern University March 3 and a loss to eventual tournament champion Davidson College March 4.
This year was no different.
With starting point guard junior Jack Isenbarger ailing, Bonney played 16 minutes in the quarterfinals against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, mostly running the point. He scored eight points, snagged three rebounds and recorded two assists as the Phoenix escaped the Spartans 68-61.
“Josh Bonney was terrific, absolutely terrific,” Matheny said postgame. “Josh Bonney has been dealt a very difficult hand throughout his career at Elon, and for him to play the way he played made a huge difference tonight.”
Junior forward Lucas Troutman echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“Josh has really stepped up,” he said. “That’s the great thing about our team is the guts we have, the guys that we have to be able to step up. Josh did that great tonight.”
So when Isenbarger struggled early against College of Charleston, it was time for Bonney to step up again. In 15 minutes of playing time, Bonney scored 15 points and dished out three assists on 5-for-9 from the field.
Thinking his basketball career had ended, Bonney was not happy, but he remained positive.
“It’s not a great feeling,” he said. “I enjoyed my career. Since [Matheny’s] been here, I’ve been here. I was here when we won nine games one year, and now we came this far, and I don’t think a win and loss column can really prove how much progress we made, because it’s in the locker room. I couldn’t be happier.”
Now, Bonney and the rest of the men’s basketball team have the chance to play at least one more game and continue the season after accepting an invitation to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. It’s the first postseason tournament appearance for the Phoenix since the end of the 1996-1997 season, Elon’s last in Div. II. The tournament is just the ninth postseason appearance for the Phoenix in 104 years of action.
The Phoenix will take on Canisius College on March 20 in the first round of the tournament in Buffalo, N.Y. The two teams have never met before.