Standing at 6-foot-11, the second tallest player on the team, senior Sam Sherry hangs his head low. His fair skin draws an unfamiliar paleness to it as the bags under his eyes grow darker. He clutches tightly onto his yellow hand towel as his team joins for a huddle before the game starts. Sherry is sick. Despite this, head coach Billy Taylor said even though Sherry didn’t play his best tonight, he’s accountable and will bounce back for the next game.
Within the last two seconds of the game, the stakes were high. Elon was losing by just one point to North Carolina A&T and junior TK Simpkins passed the ball to his senior teammate. Sherry was just one point away from marking his 1000-point record, but he lost control of the ball. The ball loosened in his hand and he struggled to gain possession as A&T sophomore Jahnathan Lamothe stole it with one half a second left.
Elon lost to A&T 60-59 on Feb. 13. This is the Phoenix’s third consecutive loss after falling to Charleston on Feb. 8. It is also their sixth loss in their last eight games. This would have been Elon’s fourth consecutive win against the Aggies and would have marked its first 16th win season since 2015-16.
Within the first half, the Phoenix secured a solid lead against the Aggies, even with a 10-point lead with one and a half minutes left of the first half. With the Aggies entering the game 0-12 in conference play, Elon was expected to secure another victory after its recent losing streak. However, this may have led to their downfall, according to Taylor. Taylor said one of the factors in their loss tonight was the team’s passive behavior.
Sophomore point guard Andrew King said the referees also told him Elon was “playing soft” tonight.
“I could feel that our like energy as a team kind of shifted, and we were kind of getting passive,” King said.
However, after halftime, the Aggies bounced back with aggression as they managed to close the margin halfway through. For the rest of the game, the Phoenix and Aggies were neck and neck, ultimately ending with A&T securing the win.
Taylor said not attacking the paint tonight was one of the reasons they lost. Elon only scored 24 points within the paint while A&T collected a total of 36 points. He said it was also how the team let this loss take over to possession-orientated.
“That's what killed us,” Taylor said.
The last time the Phoenix faced the Aggies over a month ago on Jan. 2, sophomore TJ Simpkins stood out scoring double digits. He proved his point this game, scoring 14 points and his brother, TK, joined him in the double digits at 11. With sophomore Nick Dorn out due to a lower extremity injury, a few players including the twins had to step up their game. Dorn is out indefinitely with no timetable to return, according to a statement by Elon Athletics.
Big man Matthew Van Komen played well, using his tall frame to secure 8 rebounds and four blocks throughout the game. Van Komen was also the only player to score a slam dunk. Sophomore Isaac Harrell made a 3-pointer during the second half, something Taylor said he was glad to see Harrell step up tonight.
“We just needed him to continue to grow,” Taylor said. “He is only a sophomore.”
Taylor said for a lot of the younger players he is looking forward to them continuing to step up and improve. Freshman Brayden Crump, Harrell, King and other players all did with Dorn’s absence.
King said because he is a point guard, he sees himself as a leader on the team, and even though he and his teammates are hurt from the recent losing streak, they hope to overcome this hurdle by not taking every loss personally.
Despite the devastating loss, Elon did not go down without a fight, forcing A&T to commit a total of four shot clock violations within the second half. Like the Charleston game, Elon’s defense on combating turnovers was another weakness tonight with the Aggies totaling 15 turnovers, three more than Elon.
The Phoenix looks to secure a win at their next game at UNC Wilmington this Saturday, Feb. 15.