By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
With the margins slim in the Coastal Athletic Association, Elon’s men’s basketball team is running short on time after a couple of tough-to-digest defeats.
The Phoenix couldn’t muster a full comeback in Saturday afternoon’s 82-75 loss to Drexel at Schar Center.
“Tough stretch of the season, but we’ve got to work our way through it,” Elon coach Billy Taylor said. “We’ve lost some games here at home. Thought we had a really nice home crowd.”
The Phoenix (13-12 overall, 5-7 CAA), with a three-game skid for the first time this season, has lost five of its last six games, dipping into the bottom half of the league standings. Only one of Elon’s CAA losses has come by more than 10 points.
“They’re coming down to one or two possessions,” Taylor said. “It’s just, can we be cleaner? Can we be sharper in our execution? Can we finish possessions late game?”
Elon has two home games remaining among its last six regular-season games. The slate also includes two matchups with UNC Wilmington, which has been at or near the top of the CAA standings.
“Next-game mentality,” guard Bryson Cokley said. “Come out with more urgency from the jump. . . In the second half, we kind of wake up and pick it up, which we need that in the first half.”
Elon junior swingman Isaac Harrell pumped in a career-high 25 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field with five 3-pointers. Cokley provided 19 points and Chandler Cuthrell, despite 3-for-10 from the field, had 15 points, aided by 9-for-11 on free throws, and 10 rebounds.
“Keep on attacking,” Harrell said. “I think that’s something that I don’t do enough. But I think it’s something that I can do.”
He became the fourth Elon player to reach the 25-point mark this season.
“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t really celebrate that type of effort,” Taylor said.
Elon trailed by 12 points in the first half but later drew within four, 66-62. The Phoenix was in the double-bonus with more than 8½ minutes to play, but a few possessions without attacking the lane didn’t allow it to benefit from that, Taylor said.
Cuthrell’s steal and dunk drew the Phoenix within 75-70 with less than four minutes to play. Drexel’s Eli Beard, who ended with a team-high 16 points, responded with a 3-pointer.
The Phoenix didn’t make another shot until Harrell’s 3 with 1:02 left, cutting the hole to 78-73. Then within 81-75, Ja’Juan Carr missed in lane with about 11 seconds left.
Drexel (13-12, 7-5) won its fourth game in its last five outings.
Elon was down 46-38 at halftime after the Dragons made half of their 12 attempts from 3-point range. A season-high crowd of 2,021 looked on.
“We were kind of always chasing,” Taylor said. “If we had the lead, (with) the home crowd, I think we could really drive up that energy.”
Taylor said forward Kacper Klaczek, the team’s third-leading scorer (12.6 points per game) and top rebounder (6.4), is nearing a comeback from an ankle injury. He hasn’t played since January 22.
“We miss his toughness and physicality and experience,” Taylor said. “But it gives some opportunity to other guys. . . Most important part is coming up and we’ve just got to figure it out.”
Phoenix falls in 2OT
Elon didn’t make a field goal in the second overtime period in an 87-79 loss at Hampton last Thursday night.
Cuthrell poured in 32 points, reserve Ned Hull hit four 3-pointers on the way to 15 points, and Carr notched 13 points.
Cuthrell and Harrell each had 10 rebounds. Carr and Cokley both fouled out in the first overtime.
The Phoenix, which was scoreless in the last 3:56 of regulation that included missing the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities twice in the final minute, was 10-for-18 on free throws in regulation and 18-for-30 for the game. Hampton scored the last five points in regulation, while Hull’s 3-pointer with 55 seconds to go in the first overtime marked the last points in that period for either team.
