Behind a balanced effort from the entire team, 23 points from senior forward Lucas Troutman and a 25-7 run in the second half led the Elon University men's basketball team to dominating 79-48 win over Furman University Feb. 24 in Greenville, S.C.
The win marks the seventh straight for head coach Matt Matheny's team heading into the final two regular season games. Elon hosts Wofford College at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 and Davidson College at 7 p.m. March 1.
The Phoenix sits all alone in second place in the Southern Conference standings with an 11-3 record. Davidson is all that stands in the way, as the Wildcats' (13-1) lone loss was to Elon Jan. 16.
With wins against Wofford and Davidson and a Davidson loss to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Feb. 27, Elon would clinch the SoCon regular season title. The conference tournament will take place March 7-10 in Asheville.
Leading 32-22 at halftime, Elon caught fire in the second half and pulled away from the Paladins. Fifteen different players saw the floor and 12 of them scored. Troutman made 11 of the 15 shots he took and pulled down seven rebounds to go with his game-high 23 points.
While Troutman was the only player in double-figures for the Phoenix, seven players tallied at least six points. Elon shot 54.2 percent (32 of 59) from the field, and a red-hot 67.9 percent (19 of 28) in the second half.
Elon scored 48 points in the paint and 25 off Furman turnovers. The Phoenix defense held the Paladins to a dismal 30 percent (15 of 50) from the field.
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Senior guard Jack Isenbarger became Elon's leader in career 3-pointers, surpassing Chris Kiger with 261 total after making two against Furman.
The teams scratched their way to a 10-10 tie early, before Elon used a 22-4 run to take a 32-14 lead with 2:19 in the half. The Phoenix led 71-44 with 3:32 left before freshman Christian Hairston threw down a dunk along the baseline to put the exclamation point on the blowout win.