In yet another dramatic finish, the Elon University men’s basketball team narrowly avoided a second-half collapse on Sunday, Dec. 22 by defeating the Florida Atlantic University Owls 67-62 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Elon led by as much as 16 points in the first half and held a 13-point advantage at the intermission, 40-27. However, Florida Atlantic reeled off a 9-0 run to open the second half and cut the margin to four points, 40-36, with 16:33 remaining. Seven of the nine points came from the Owls’ senior guard Pablo Bertone.
The Phoenix’s first field goal of the second half came with 12:40 left to play, a three-pointer from sophomore guard Tanner Samson. However, the Phoenix struggled to score down the stretch and the Owls took their first lead of the game at 54-53 on a jumper from sophomore guard Jackson Trapp at the 6:17 mark of the second half. Junior forward Kevin Blake converted on a layup with 6:01 left that returned the lead to Elon at 55-54.
A quick three from Bertone and a layup from senior guard Jack Isenbarger knotted the score at 57-57 with just over five minutes remaining. From there, neither team scored over a two-minute stretch until Florida Atlantic took a 58-57 lead on a Bertone free throw with 3:01 left. An Owls layup pushed the lead to three points, but Isenbarger tied the contest at 60 with exactly two minutes left.
Fifty seconds later, it was Samson’s turn to shine when he hit a three to give the Phoenix the lead back at 63-60. Elon was able to force two defensive stops in the final minute, and Isenbarger converted on four free throws as the Owls fought to stay alive.
Isenbarger led the Phoenix with 18 points and was followed by senior guard Sebastian Koch with 14 points, all in the first half. Florida Atlantic was led by Bertone’s 17 points in the loss.
Elon improves to 7-6 with the win, while Florida Atlantic falls to 3-10. The Phoenix will take a nine-day break for Christmas, and return to action on Dec. 31 against Duke University. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. inside the Greensboro Coliseum.