It would be easy for the Elon University men’s basketball team to focus on the positives at this point in the season.

With four games to play before heading to Asheville, N.C., for the Southern Conference Tournament, the Phoenix has won six consecutive games. The next two — road trips to Georgia Southern University and Furman University — are games Elon should win before hosting Wofford College and Davidson College.

But according to head coach Matt Matheny, there’s plenty for the Phoenix to focus on improving.

“There is plenty left to reach for,” Matheny said. “We have our work cut out for us. We as a team have improved in our play in all areas, but there’s still room for improvement.”

Matheny cited rebounding as one area of concern — the Phoenix allowed the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to grab 13 offensive boards in the second half without getting a single one for itself.

But starting off the second half with energy and aggressiveness was Matheny’s main point of focus after Elon allowed UNCG to cut an 11-point deficit to four.

“We didn’t start well in our last game at the beginning of our last game against Samford [University],” Matheny said following the UNCG game Feb. 19. “We had talked about that leading into this game. So here we are at halftime after a good first half, and we said, ‘Let’s start better in the second half.’ And we did not.”

Against Samford Feb. 15, the Phoenix let the Bulldogs begin the second half on a 9-2 run. Elon has been able to finish strong in each game for double-digit wins, but in a stretch that includes five games in 11 days, the Phoenix is looking to put a stop to those spurts.

“Getting consecutive stops is something we’ve been focusing on,” said senior guard Jack Isenbarger. “It’s a good goal to have. We’ve been talking about getting three stops in a row. If we can key in on that, that’s really helpful.”

Isenbarger added that with two more games on the road in front of them, Elon needs a heightened level of defense.

“On the road you’ve always have to defend better and rebound the ball,” Isenbarger said. “If we can do those two things, the offense will take care of itself. We’re going to really focus on defense.”

The Phoenix currently stands one-half game behind Wofford and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the SoCon standings, while Georgia Southern is coming off of a win on the road at Chattanooga.