ELON, NC – The Elon University men’s basketball team wraps up its two-game road stretch with a trip to the state of Alabama for a meetup against Jacksonville State on Tuesday, November 22nd. Playtime between the Phoenix and the Gamecocks is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST at Pete Matthews Coliseum.
HOW TO FOLLOW
• Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
• Listen to The Elon Sports Network from Learfield on The Varsity Network App.
• Longtime voice of the Phoenix, Taylor Durham, will be on the phone with the pregame show starting at 6:30pm EST
• For links to broadcast and live stats, visit the Elon men’s basketball schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• More in-game updates will be provided on Twitter by following @ElonMBasketball.
TICKETS ON SALE
• Men’s basketball season tickets are now available for $170.
• Tickets for single matches are on sale now! Single game tickets start at $15 for men’s basketball.
• Fans can purchase a book with 10 ticket vouchers for $75. These coupons may be redeemed for a ticket to any regular season Elon basketball season home game for men or women. Use all 10 on any game or use one coupon on 10 different games. Fans will also receive an Elon mini basketball autographed by the head coaches. These tickets represent a savings of 50 percent for men’s basketball tickets and 25 percent for women’s basketball over single game prices.
• Ticket vouchers must be redeemed for a reserved seat ticket prior to admission. This can be done during regular business hours (MF, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) or from 90 minutes before the start at the box office of the Schar Center.
• For more information, visit ElonTickets.com or call the Elon Ticket Office at 336-278-6750.
THE MATCHUP
• Tuesday is only the second game in the series between the Phoenix and the Gamecocks.
• Jacksonville State won the first meeting between the two schools last season, 93-81, at the Schar Center.
• Jalen Gibbs posted a career-high 40 points for Jacksonville State, the most for the program in Division I history. Gibbs hit 10 of 12 from three-point range while the Gamecocks as a team recorded a stunning 71 percent (17 of 24) knocked down from beyond the arch.
• Zac Ervin led the Phoenix to finish the game with 18 points and four rebounds on a 5-of-11 long-range shot. The Gate City, Virginia native led five Phoenix players by double digits.
LAST TIME-OUT
• The Phoenix played their first real road competition of the season at domestic rivals NC State on Saturday, Nov. 19. Despite some second-half rallies to overcome a double-digit halftime deficit, the Phoenix eventually fell to the Wolfpack, 74-63, at PNC Arena.
• Torrence Watson led Phoenix with 20 points, a season-high for the St. Louis native. Watson also accelerated the Phoenix with eight rebounds while knocking down 4-of-8 from deep.
• Rookie Max Mackinnon added 11 points for Phoenix in his first start of the season. The Brisbane native of Australia also contributed six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
• The phoenix and the wolf pack met for the first time since 2011 and on December 31St total time. NC State improved its all-time record over Elon to 23-8.
START OF THE BILLY TAYLOR ERA
• Taylor named 19thth Phoenix head coach on April 15, 2022. Taylor joined Phoenix after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa.
• Before joining the Hawkeyes, Taylor was the head coach at Lehigh University for five years, followed by six years as head coach at Ball State University and three years at Belmont Abbey College.
• During his time in Iowa, the Hawkeyes were one of the best offensive teams in the country, finishing fifth in national points averages in both 2021 (83.7) and 2022 (83.2). The program also led the country in both seasons in support-to-sales ratio.
• Taylor was a two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year (2003, 2004) and guided Lehigh to both regular-season and tournament titles in 2004 and received an NCAA bid that season. He also led Ball State to the 2009 MAC West Division crown.
SEARCH ELON
• Watson leads Phoenix with 13.2 points per game while also making the best team with 5.8 boards per contest. In his last three games, the senior averaged 15.3 points per game.
• Sean Halloran is second on the team with 11.6 points per game and averaging a team-best time of 32.8 minutes. The Orlando, Fla. native leads the team in assists with 23 (4.6 APG), which is the second-highest total in the CAA. His 12 steals are also the most in the CAA (2.4 SPG).
• Mackinnon has averaged 10.7 points per game in his last three games and shot nearly 52 percent from the field (14 of 27). Overall, he’s averaging 8.2 points per game in his young rookie season.
• Sam Sherry made his career debut at NC State on Saturday. The Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania native had eight points in 23 minutes and also had five rebounds.
• On the defensive side of the ball, the Phoenix ranks third in the CAA for keeping opponents shooting with a 3-point percentage at .312 percent.
TIP TO OPEN
• Elon is returning seven winners from last year’s team, including five seniors. Notable returns for Maroon and Gold include graduate student Torrence Watson and senior Zac Ervin. Both players are the leading returning scorers for Elon with 9.2 and 7.1 points per game, respectively.
• The Phoenix also welcomes red shirter Jerald Gillens-Butler, who is hoping to get back on form after being awarded an honorable mention by the All-Colonial Athletic Association last year. The Orlando, Fla. native came on in just 10 games last year after missing most of the previous season through injury.
• Two graduate transfers will have an immediate impact on Phoenix this season. Sean Halloran joins the Phoenix after a distinguished four-year career at Belmont Abbey. A native of Orlando, Fla., he finished his career with the Crusaders as the all-time leader and helped the program win two consecutive Conference Carolinas Tournament championships and three straight NCAA tournament appearances. He rounded out his career averaging 14.4 points per game as a senior and finished his career with 1,422 points.
• Another grad brings John Bowen III to the Phoenix front line at 6ft 9 and 215lbs tall. A native of Bladenboro, NC, he last played with UNCW in 2019-20, appearing in 28 of 32 games. Prior to UNCW, Bowen III was a teammate with Halloran at Belmont Abbey and averaged 8.9 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per contest in 2018-19 while starting 27 of 28 games.
• A few newcomers will also try to make a difference in 2022-23 for Maroon and Gold. Max Mackinnon is a 6ft 5 swingman from Brisbane, Australia, where he won back-to-back gold medals with the Australia U20 national team. He was also named an All-Star 5 at the Australian National Championship.
• Another freshman, LA Pratt, is a 6-foot-5 guard from Columbus, Ohio who was a three-time All-4A team member and three-time conference champion at Lincoln Park High School. He scored over 1,000 points in high school and helped lead the program to two WPIAL championship appearances and two state semifinal appearances.
EXPLORE JACKSONVILLE STATE
• The Gamecocks are 2-1 so far this season, having last played in Alabama on Friday, where the Crimson Tide clinched a 104-62 win.
• Jacksonville State finished the 2021-22 season 21-11 and won the Atlantic Sun regular-season championship en route to an NCAA tournament berth. The Gamecocks were seeded third in the 2022 ASUN preseason poll.
• The Gamecocks are averaging 77.7 points per game while shooting .443 percent from the field and 40 percent from downtown. Three players are in double figures for Jacksonville State, led by senior Skyelar Potter and junior Amanze Ngumezi’s 13.0 point-per-game averages.
• Potter shoots over 50 percent from the field (.519) and also from three-point range (.529) with his nine Treys, the best team. Senior Demaree King is third on the roster at 12.3 points per game and leads the Gamecocks with 30.3 minutes.
• Head Coach Ray Harper is in his seventh season at the helm of the Jacksonville State program. He has a 120-78 record with the Gamecocks.
NEXT
The Phoenix returns home after the Thanksgiving break on Sunday, November 27 at the Schar Center to host Radford. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m
— ELON —