20-10 is a long way from 9-23.
But in just four years, the Elon University men's basketball team improved that much.
The Phoenix capped off the program's first 20-win season since 1987-1988 with an 80-66 victory Saturday night over the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Spartans in Alumni Gym, using a productive second half to cap the historic season.
The win propels the Phoenix into the Southern Conference Tournament next weekend when it will face either the No. 7 seed University of Tennessee at Chattanooga or the No. 10 seed Spartans at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
"We're excited to get this victory," said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "Twenty wins has been a milestone in college basketball for a long, long time. It's not something that we have talked much about. To get it is a good milestone for our program and it shows the growth of our program over the last four years."
The first half was rough for both teams. Elon struggled to get good looks from the field, but hit 11-of-14 from the free-throw line to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.
After the break, the Phoenix started hot, hitting three of its first four shots to storm out to a 36-28 lead just 2:10 into the second frame. But the Spartans stormed back to within one with 17:04 left in the half, racking up a quick 7-0 run after UNCG head coach Wes Miller called a timeout.
Elon responded, holding the Spartans to just one field goal over the next 3:51 as the Phoenix went on a hot-shooting spree. UNCG freshman forward Kayel Locke's layup with 13:13 left slowed the bleeding a bit at 49-44 with Elon on top.
It was the closest UNCG would get in the rest of the game, as the Phoenix slowly pulled away.
"I thought our energy was really good the first half. Their’s was a little bit better and we were unable to take them out of what they were doing early in the second half and they got comfortable shots," Miller said. "We did make an adjustment and come out and guard better after the under-16 timeout. I thought we took them out of what they were doing and then they drove us to the basket on three straight possessions and that really put the game away, not away, but it made it that we were playing catchup, not really in the game on a one or two-possession game anymore."
Matheny said he didn't call any set plays in the second half and just let his team play.
"As a result, it was more players making plays," he said. "They did a tremendous job running our motion offense by what they saw, more so than what anything the coaches do. We trust our players. It worked in the second half. Just because we trust them doesn’t mean it’s going to work. But I thought our motion offense was a lot better. What it is is players seeing and helping each other, and that’s what our guys did."
Elon junior guard Sebastian Koch, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and picked up five assists, was quite happy with that decision and showed his coach a little love postgame.
"I like the fact that Coach gives us the green light to just play basketball," he said. "We don't call a lot of sets, he just lets us play. He's confident in us and we love that about him. We just try to help each other out and that's why we get good shots."
The Phoenix converted on 65.4 percent of those shots in the second half, 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, and shot 56.5 percent overall for the game while holding the Spartans to 39.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three-point range.
Troutman led all scorers with 25 points. Elon junior forward Ryley Beaumont had 14 points and nine rebounds, while freshman guard Tanner Samson was the fourth Phoenix in double-figures with 10 points.
The Spartans were led by Locke's 13 points and four rebounds. Senior forward Kelvin McNeill had 11 points and 12 rebounds, while SoCon leading scorer and junior guard Trevis Simpson, who didn't start after missing the last two days of practice with flu symptoms, had 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Junior guard Drew Parker added ten points.
Despite the success, Koch said there's still room for improvement.
"We still made a lot of mistakes today and last game, and we want to be at our best during the tournament, when it really matters," he said. "We’ve still got next week to work on all the things we messed up today in the game, and I think if we get those things down, we have a bright future ahead of us."
Game Notes
- Miller had this to say about the Phoenix's season: "It’s a great accomplishment, it’s a great feeling. Obviously, Matt’s done a terrific job here at Elon. I was here as an assistant for a year, I know some of the challenges of this job, from working here. To look down and see the record that they have, to win the North Division in this league, he’s done a tremendous job and I’ve got the utmost respect for him as a coach and this program." UNCG won the North Division title last season.
- Elon sophomore guard Kevin Blake hit just his second three-pointer of the season with 5:58 left in the second half to give Elon a 67-56 lead.
- Tonight's game was Senior Night, as the team honored senior guards Josh Bonney, Aaron Smith and John Moody and forward Roger Dugas. Bonney scored eight points on the night as he, Moody and Smith got the start. Dugas is out for the rest of the season with a leg injury.
- Elon junior guard Jack Isenbarger had just five points and four rebounds and only attempted three field goals as the Spartans played a tight defense on the Phoenix's second-leading scorer. "I think they do a really good job of pressuring him," Matheny said. "They pick him up 75 feet and I think their guards are good defenders."
- Troutman, who missed last Saturday's game against Chattanooga and struggled early Wednesday night in a loss to Davidson College, said he was close to 100 percent healthy and that there were still some treatments to come.