Elon senior Austin Hamilton helped the Phoenix advance to Saturday's Quarterfinals.
Elon Edges Towson 74-69 In OT
Tim McDonnell
Boxscore |
#CAAChamps Central Page
BALTIMORE (March 6, 2015) – Freshman Elijah Bryant led all players with 21 points and the hot-shooting Elon Phoenix defeated Towson, 74-69, in overtime on Friday in the first opening-round game of the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men's Basketball Championship at Royal Farms Arena.
Bryant, fresh off winning this season’s CAA Rookie of the Year honor, made 4-for-9 shots from 3-point range while Elon, as a team, converted an impressive 13-of-29 3-pointers. The Phoenix has now won a league-best four straight games overall.
Senior Austin Hamilton netted 12 points to go along with four rebounds and seven assists to help the eighth-seeded Phoenix (15-17) advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals against top-seeded William & Mary. Elon, appearing in its first-ever CAA Basketball Championship as a member of the conference, also benefitted from freshman Collin Luther, who had a season-high 11 points and went a perfect 3-of-3 from long range.
Ninth-seeded Towson (12-20) was led by freshman Mike Morsell, who scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Junior Timajh Parker-Rivera scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in defeat.
Elon junior Tanner Samson scored the first five points for his team in overtime, including a triple with 3:17 left that put his team ahead by three. Nearly one minute later, after a TU turnover, Hamilton drained a clutch 3-pointer to extend the lead to six with 2:21 to play.
Towson’s Four McGlynn, who scored 13 points in the game, added a three-point play and a layup late, but Elon’s Kevin Blake put home an open-court slam with seconds to spare to seal the victory.
Towson out-rebounded the Phoenix by a margin of 25-13 in the first half yet still trialed by one, 33-32. Much of Elon’s success in the first 20 minutes related to shooting 7-of-13 from 3-point range. Bryant had 14 points and made three treys alone during that span.
The Tigers trailed by five with 3:51 left in regulation after a Bryant layup, but battled to tie the game on a pair of McGlynn free throws with 19 seconds left. Hamilton missed a potential game-winning jumper with three seconds to go, which forced the contest into overtime.
Towson, which had 13 of its 19 CAA contests decided by five points or less, won both meetings versus Elon by a combined six points in the regular season. Elon shot 42.6 percent from the field compared to Towson’s 42.9 mark.