Behind a career high 23 points from sophomore guard Tanner Samson, the Elon University men’s basketball team defeated Virginia Military Institute, 87-70, on Tuesday night, Dec. 3, in Alumni Gym.
Elon never trailed in the game, its third consecutive win.
“Feels really good to get a win going into exams and a long break before we play again,” Elon head coach Matt Matheny said. “We’ve had a tough stretch with a lot of games.”
The host Phoenix opened the contest with a 10-4 advantage, spurred on by VMI’s shooting struggles. VMI opened the game by missing its first seven three-point attempts, all taken in the game’s first nine minutes. VMI trimmed the lead to as little as two points at 10-8, but the Phoenix burst out to a nine-point margin with 12:23 remaining in the game’s first half. Senior forward Lucas Troutman chipped in five of Elon’s seven points in the 7-0 run.
An offensive key for Elon’s success was the ability to break the aggressive pressure defense employed by VMI.
"We know that if we just flow and play our offense, we’d be able to get good looks,” Troutman said. “A lot of that was we knew they were going to trap.”
“With their 2-2-1 press, the middle is wide open,” said senior guard Jack Isenbarger. “Get a guy in the middle, get it to him, and they collapse and we can run the wings.”
One player who was able to take advantage of open shots was Samson, who hit two three-pointers in the later stages of the half. By taking what Matheny referred to as “gutsy shots against pressure,” the Phoenix was able to reach a 16-point lead with 1:45 left before halftime off of a Samson three.
The Keydets cut the margin back down to 11 points, 42-31, as the teams headed to the locker room. In the first half, VMI only shot 11 of 32 (34.4 percent) and 3 of 14 from behind the arc. The solid defensive performance pleased Matheny.
“The best thing we did was we defended,” he said. “VMI averages 88 points per game, we held them to 70. We held them under 40 percent.”
Elon drew first blood in the second half on a layup from senior forward Ryley Beaumont, but VMI responded with an 8-1 run that cut Elon’s lead down to six points at 45-39 with 16:56 left to play.
Back to back layups from Troutman and eight consecutive points from Samson, in all a 12-0 Elon run, had the advantage right back at 18 points a mere three minutes later.
VMI head coach Duggar Baucom was assessed a technical foul during the stretch, as the ninth-year boss of the Keydets had been visibly frustrated with officiating all night long.
From there, Elon cruised to the finish, and a dunk by Troutman with 5:30 to play pushed the lead to a game-high 21 points.
“I think as the season has gone on, our guys just have been more poised,” Isenbarger said. “When we get the lead, we’re able to maintain it now rather than being unsure about how to play in those situations. We trusted our system, that’s how we finished the game.”
Given the close games Elon has played of late, Matheny was relieved to have a comfortable win, adding that it was “nice not to have been as close” as other recent games.
Matheny also praised Samson’s eight rebounds on top of the sophomore’s 23 points.
“Tanner Samson was very, very good,” Matheny said. “He got eight defensive rebounds, and he got some rebounds we haven’t been getting in the past.”
Samson led the Phoenix with 23 points and Troutman followed with 21. Beaumont was the only other Elon player in double figures with 10 points.
VMI saw all five starters reach double figures, but a 15-point night out of redshirt sophomore forward Jordan Weethee led the way for the Keydets.
Elon improves to 5-4 with the win while VMI drops to 4-4. The Phoenix will take a 10-day break for exams before resuming the season on Friday, Dec. 13 with a road game at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. EST, 6:30 p.m. in Boulder.
More Elon Men’s Basketball
—Troutman, Phoenix survive dagger three from Columbia in OT—Phoenix snap losing skid against Georgia State
—Elon falls to Metro State, the No. 1 team in Div. II basketball, by 1