The newest transfer additions for the Elon University men’s basketball team wasted no time making an impact in their debuts for the Phoenix. With new players such as sophomore guard Bryson Cokley, graduate student guard Ja’Juan Carr and junior guard Randall Pettus II, Elon won its season opener 99-51 against Belmont Abbey College.
Elon had five of their eight transfers finish in double digit points with graduate student forward Chandler Cuthrell scoring a game high 21 points. Carr added 15 points, while Cokley, Pettus II and graduate student forward Kacper Klaczek all tallied 12 for the night.
Head coach Billy Taylor said he views the transfer portal as a great opportunity to grant players the chance to impact the game in different ways.
“The hard part about the transfer portal is you lose really good kids that you recruit but it also presents opportunities for new young people,” Taylor said. “Chandler is an impact player for us, Randall is someone I coached in AAU ball and Kacper was really aggressive on the boards.”
Throughout the game, Elon played a fast-paced style, recording 18 assists while shooting 39% from the three point line. Their total number of assists is almost six more than last season’s 12.2 average per game.
Taylor said he was very pleased to see the team start the season the way they did. He said their performance was a total team effort on both sides of the ball..
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys for coming out and really starting fast,” Taylor said. “Our defensive activity really set the tone and we did a really nice job of sharing a basketball through our high assist numbers.”
Graduate Chandler Cuthrell dribbles the ball as he tries to get in the paint on Nov. 5 in a game against Belmont Abbey College. Graduate Kacper Klaczek guards a player on the Belmont Abbey team. Belmont Abbey lost to the Phoenix 99-51.
Elon initially traded baskets with Belmont Abbey for the first three and a half minutes but would take the lead for good after Pettus II’s three pointer. That sparked a five minute stretch where Elon outscored Belmont Abbey 22-7 and secured a 29-14 lead with 20 of those points off assists.
Defensively, Elon was just as impactful. Their zone defense frequently rotated to shooters every possession, and forced a shot clock violation at one point. Elon also caused plenty of mistakes from Belmont Abbey, generating 27 points off turnovers.
Curthrell said the team was constantly trying to disrupt Belmont Abbey’s offense by frequently putting pressure on the ball during every possession.
“The goal is to try and speed up the other team,” Curthrell said. “We try to trap the ball and whenever we do make the right traps, we’re in the passing lanes.”
With just under seven minutes in the half, a layup by sophomore transfer center Caleb Middleton put Elon up by more than 20 points the rest of the game. The Phoenix rode their strong start all the way into halftime as a three-point play by Klaczek with 0.7 seconds left put the team up 64-24.
The Phoenix would continue to sustain their lead in the second half, winning 99-51.
Even with a much different roster compared to last year’s team, Taylor said the team used the offseason to get accustomed to playing with one another.
“The difference is we had a few more guys that were returning last year,” Taylor said. “We really just have been spending time through this offseason kind of build that camaraderie and making sure that we had cohesion.”
Elon will travel on Saturday to play the University of North Carolina Greensboro at 4 p.m. Nov. 8.