The Elon University men's basketball team kicked its season off with a bang Friday night as Luke Eddy and Tony Sabato led a Phoenix comeback to take down Florida Atlantic 64-58.
Down by 10 just 12 minutes into the game something clicked for the Phoenix as they slowly but surely chipped away at the Owls' lead before taking the advantage for good with 8:35 left in the contest.
Elon, despite going cold on the offensive end and scoring only one bucket over the next four minutes, managed to hold off the FAU attack with stingy defense that limited the Owls to 4-of-12 shooting over the game's final 8:52.
"For an inexperienced team and a young team to stay as consistently focused as we did is a great tribute to our players," Elon Head Coach Matt Matheny said.
The stars of the night for Elon was the unlikely duo of Eddy, who was starting in place of an injured Austin Hamilton, and Sabato, who was making only his second career start after backing up Lucas Troutman for the past two years.
Eddy, who finished with 13 points on the night, was the sparkplug for Elon, running up and down the floor, driving the lane and fighting for every ball, making several key plays in the game's waning minutes that helped secure the win for the Phoenix.
Sabato was Elon's leader down low, fighting through FAU's much bigger frontcourt on his way to a team-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
A big factor in the win was the depth Elon displayed throughout the night, playing nine players for at least 17 minutes, including five underclassmen.
"These guys came in and we knew from the first game of pickup that they were going to come in and be good," Sabato said. "There was a lot expected of them. They all practice very hard, they all put in extra work outside of practice and they're going to have a big year for us and we're counting on them."
With the first game of the season down, the team is looking forward to where it can go this season, but also realizes there is a long way to go.
"We are very excited about the potential but we've got a lot of building and a lot of work to do," Matheny said. "It's just the beginning but it's a great night."
Elon is back in action Sunday evening when the Charlotte 49er's come to Alumni Gym for a game at 5:30 p.m.