A 38-16 start. An ejected fan. A head coach picking up a technical foul in his maiden voyage back to the place where he first perfected his craft.
To say Elon University's 93-79 victory over UNC-Greensboro Saturday night was eventful may be putting things lightly.
Drew Spradlin, Elon's lone senior, swished an 18-foot jump shot seven seconds into play — initiating a rapid start to the game's first few minutes. The Phoenix made seven of its first 13 shots and built a 21-2 lead less than six minutes in.
"We got off to a great start and it helped us get a win, obviously," Spradlin said. "But it was a tough game the whole game."
It was an epic way for the Wheelsburg, Ohio, native to close out his career at Alumni Gym. Spradlin scored eight points in front of a packed house that included 16 friends and family members.
"I'm thrilled for Drew Spradlin," Elon (13-15, 8-9 Southern Conference) coach Matt Matheny said. "To have a special night on Senior Night... For us to come out with a victory on Senior Night is really special for our team in terms of momentum going into Asheville (for the Southern Conference Tournament), but it's also very special to win for Drew on Senior Night."
Elon (13-15, 8-9 Southern Conference) extended its lead to 38-16 before the Spartans (12-17, 10-7) could catch their breath. UNCG was able to cut the gap to 50-44 with 17:40 left to play, but the Phoenix stretched the lead back out to double digits and the Spartans couldn't avoid the season sweep.
"We made some poor decisions late," Matheny said. "But when we struggled, we competed for loose balls and rebounds and I thought that carried us through tonight."
The win ended a five-game losing streak for Elon dating back to Feb. 9.
"Going into the conference tournament with a six-game losing streak, nobody wants to do that," said sophomore forward Ryley Beaumont, who scored a career-high 18 points. "You want to have some momentum going in. We knew we didn't want to go into it like that so we were really prepared for the game."
Chattanooga's win over Samford gave Elon the No. 2 seed in the North Division. With that comes a free pass into the second round, where the Phoenix will play the winner of Chattanooga-Georgia Southern.
"The bye is an interesting thing," Matheny said. "No team's ever won the tournament without a bye. When you get the bye, it's almost like 'dead man walking.' Because you're sitting there and you don't know who you're going to play and then they have a game's experience on the court. Having been in that situation before, you don't know how your team's going to react."
Sophomore guard Jack Isenbarger's 24 points led all scorers. Sophomore forward Lucas Troutman scored 20 points and freshman point guard scored 11 off the bench.
"We weren't really concerned with the numbers tonight," Beaumont said. "We just wanted to get Drew out of here with a win tonight. We did, and we're happy about it."
Shortly before the first media timeout of the second half, Elon student William McAbee — who had been yelling out profanities from his seat for the majority of the game — left his spot in the student section and made his way near the courtside seats, a couple feet from play. After McAbee yelled a few choice phrases referee Barron Searles didn't take kindly to, Searles stopped the game and called for security to escort McAbee out of the building. It was something that didn't exactly take Spradlin by surprise.
"The referees come out, though, (for the start of the game) and I hear (the fans) like immediately start yelling at the referees like 'it's going to be a long game'", Spradlin said. "I'm like 'why would you do that, man?'"
Wes Miller, who was an assistant on the 2008-09 Elon team, picked up a technical foul in his first trip to Alumni Gym as an interim head coach. Trevis Simpson paced the Spartans with 22 points. Derrell Armstrong (14) and Nick Paulos (12) also scored in double-figures for UNCG.