The Elon University men's basketball team used a strong first half and an impressive debut by freshman Dainan Swoope to run past Division III William Peace University 95-73 in an exhibition game Thursday night at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix came out flying, jumping out to a 14-point lead less than eight minutes in and frustrating William Peace with a fluid motion offense and crisp passing game.
Swoope scored a game-high 23 points for the Phoenix while senior guard Tanner Samson scored 14 points and freshman Tyler Siebring added 11 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
Throughout the night Elon used a variety of sets, rotating players in and out with frequency. Just over seven minutes in Elon had already used 10 players, something Coach Matt Matheny expects to do a lot, especially early in the season.
"Our practices have been really competitive," Matheny said. "Some players are good one day, and others are good the next. So we're gonna keep going with that."
Matheny said that the team needs to work on its defensive execution and rotation, but that he was pleased with the offensive performance.
Elon shot more than 60 percent from the field in the first half, but slowed down in the second half, finishing 33-of-68 (48.5 percent) from the field and 12-of-30 (40 percent) from three-point range.
"We can all shoot, other than me, of course," junior guard Luke Eddy said after his 0-of-6 shooting performance, "We moved the ball well on offense. We played as a team."
But Elon didn't need Eddy's scoring touch on Thursday night, as he stepped into a distributor role, dishing out eight assists.
Tyquan Nolan scored a team-high 13 points for William Peace.
Elon opens up its regular season when it heads to Charlotte next Friday to take on UNC Charlotte. The 49ers beat the Phoenix 73-60 at Alumni Gym last year.