By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Elon’s men’s basketball team is back home this week after picking up a collection of notable accomplishments during recent travels.
The Phoenix wants more.
“A little glimpse of what we can be when we’re at our best,” Elon center Matthew Van Komen said. “We just have to play to that level every game. “We just got to keep that momentum going.”
The Phoenix plays five of its next seven games at Schar Center. The team will be on its homecourt for the next five Saturday nights.
Elon (5-3), which has played its last six games away from home, has won four of its past five games. That includes conquering Notre Dame.
“It certainly got a lot of attention,” coach Billy Taylor said. “There’s more that we want to accomplish this season. Our team has specific goals, things they want to accomplish. While we’ve done some nice things to the start of the season, there’s still a lot of basketball to be played and room for the growth of our team.”
Confidence is on the rise by defeating a high-profile opponent and stringing together a strong late-November stretch.
“People tell us we have a chance to be special,” guard Nick Dorn said. “People are starting to tune in more and believe and see the work we’re putting in just because we knocked off an ACC opponent. It’s really important to keep momentum going and keep our spirits high.”
The next game comes vs. Wofford (3-5 entering Wednesday night’s home game vs. visiting Gardner-Webb), at 7:00 p.m. Saturday.
“I feel like we’re meshing well as a team,” Dorn said. “We’re just finding identity and just building on that every day in practice. I feel like we have a chance to be really special.”
Elon played three games in three days in the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
The stretch began with Friday’s 69-56 loss to Maine, with T.K. Simpkins scoring 21 points. The Phoenix held an early 10-point lead, but trailed 29-23 at halftime in the first-ever basketball meeting between the schools.
Next came Elon’s 69-63 victory against Navy with Dorn pouring in 21 points and Simpkins adding 20. The Phoenix led by 15 points with less than six minutes remaining.
In the finale, Elon topped host Penn 68-53 on Sunday afternoon as Sam Sherry poured in 16 points and Dorn had 15. Penn fell to 3-5.
Simpkins was selected for the all-tournament team, averaging 17.7 points in those games. Van Komen averaged 10 rebounds per outing in the event, capped by his 10-point, 14-rebound effort.
So the Phoenix owns three true road victories after upending Northern Illinois and Notre Dame prior to Thanksgiving.
“To do a lot of this away from home is impressive and shows a lot of maturity and growth of our team,” Taylor said. “For now, I like the way we’re playing. … We’ve done it on the road. We hope our home fans, our community, our students all come out and support us and give these guys kind of the encouragement they deserve.”
