The Elon University men’s basketball team went somewhere in 2013 they’ve never been before: a postseason tournament.
On Wednesday, the dream of a postseason run came to an end in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y against Canisius College, 69-53.
Elon only lead the Golden Griffins for two minutes forty-three seconds in the middle of the first half. The last lead the Phoenix held in the game was at 17-16. From there, Canisius took the game well into control consistently pulling away from the Phoenix throughout the remaining 28 minutes of the game.
Only two Elon players reached double figures in junior forward Ryley Beaumont and junior guard Jack Isenbarger. Beaumont finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting in 35 minutes. Isenbarger tallied 13 points. He was 3-of-10 from beyond the arc.
The Golden Griffins spread the scoring around with five players in double figures. Senior guard Harold Washington led the way with 19 points. Jordan Heath finished with 13 points while Issac Sosa tallied 11.
The Golden Griffins move on to the second round of the CIT. They await seeding, as when the tournament of 32 teams gets cut to 16, the teams are seeded to determine its next destination.
Elon’s season ends with a 21-12 record. They return all five starters from the 2012-2013 team in Isenbarger, Beaumont, Lucas Troutman, Tanner Samson and Sebastian Koch. The Phoenix will also return Austin Hamilton, who went down in January with a torn ACL.