It was clear entering the season what the star-studded senior class could do for the Elon University men’s basketball team.
The sharp-shooting abilities of guards Jack Isenbarger and Sebastian Koch were zoned in on by opponents’ scouting reports. Same with the post-presence forwards Lucas Troutman and Ryley Beaumont bring to the table.
But could there be a balance between the veterans and their backups on the bench?
As the Phoenix has been learning, there most certainly can be.
The core group of seniors has been consistently providing a mix of production throughout the season, but Elon’s bench has come up in a big way in recent games.
“I like our bench right now,” said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. “I feel confident putting guys in games.”
After a midseason stretch in which the Phoenix failed to have its subs play meaningful roles in games, the bench has begun to take charge. This is coming at a time when Elon is already seeing a full, balanced output from its five starters.
“We’re hitting our stride right now,” said Elon senior guard Jack Isenbarger. “We’ve had guys fulfilling their roles. We’re playing within ourselves, within our offense, within our system. That’s the reason we’ve won seven straight games.”
Elon’s five starters — the four seniors plus junior guard Kevin Blake — all registered double-figure scoring totals in games against Samford University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Since Matheny switched up the starting lineup in the end of January, Elon is 7-0 and the starting five have been clicking on all cylinders.
“It’s our guys being confident,” Matheny said. “It’s really just a confidence.”
That confidence has come forth in the bench players as well. Sophomore guard Tanner Samson, who started the team’s first 21 games, has provided a nice touch to the backcourt when Koch or Isenbarger needs a break. He’s nine of 21 (43 percent) from 3-point land in the last four games. Samson and junior guard Austin Hamilton both started early in the season, but have settled into new roles coming off the bench. The seven-game winning streak began after Matheny juggled the rotation.
Additionally, the freshman class has been playing a heightened role after going nearly unnoticed during a midseason funk.
Matheny praised guard Luke Eddy and forwards Christian Hairston and Brian Dawkins in particular following wins against UNCG and Georgia Southern University.
“Christian Hairston gave us a great minute at UNCG,” Matheny said after the Georgia Southern game, “Here we are, we need him in the second half on the road in a tough environment, in a tough situation, and he responded very, very well. I like what we have from our bench.”
Dawkins and junior forward Ryan Winters saw their playing time increase after Troutman was hit with a bout of the flu that caused him to miss Elon’s game against Georgia Southern Feb. 8. The two forwards took advantage, and that carried into the UNCG game Feb. 19. Matheny said they “bailed us out of a stretch in the second half where we weren’t playing really well.”
That increase in playing time might have to continue, as Koch left the Georgia Southern game Feb. 22 late in the first half with an apparent knee injury.
Troutman said he felt comfortable enough with the way the bench is playing that he’s not worried when he checks out of a game.
“Whenever I’m out, to know I have someone to come in that can help out and contribute and to be able to have good minutes is great,” Troutman said. “It goes the same for all the other players. The guys coming off the bench are putting in good minutes, shooting good shots, not forcing things and not overreacting to certain situations.”
With the Southern Conference tournament and the end of the season in sight, Matheny and the team realize the importance of each game and each minute played. The Phoenix will host Wofford College Feb. 27 before a rematch with first-place Davidson March 1 in Alumni Gym. Elon beat Davidson, 87-85, in overtime Jan. 16 in their first meeting.
As of Feb. 23, Elon stands alone in second place in the conference. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga lost two games in the past week — to Georgia Southern and UNCG — while Wofford lost to Davidson, shooting the Phoenix up in the standings.
For the seniors specifically, it’s about how they want to end their careers and be remembered in program history. Koch said after the UNCG game about how good it was to see the four seniors all playing well right now.
“It’s good because we want to go out with a bang,” he said. “It’s nice if we all can contribute in the same way. It shows we have plenty of weapons and options in our offense.”
Isenbarger went one step further, proclaiming the bench’s efforts while realizing the end is near.
“We’re deeper than we’ve ever been this year,” Isenbarger said. “We have a deep bench, and that’s fun. To be able to sub out your starters and not lose anything, that’s the goal. In our last four games here, we want to leave it all out there. We want to finish and look back and say we gave maximum effort.”