App State men’s basketball lost to the Elon University Phoenixes by a score of 88-53 Monday. It was the first home loss of the season after starting out 3-0.
“Hats off to Elon,” head coach Dustin Kerns said in the postgame press conference. “That’s a good old-fashioned butt whooping and they earned it.”
Elon entered the game with one of the top offenses in the country, scoring 89.4 points per game.
Junior guard Eren Banks got the scoring started, after App State gave up a basket on the first possession with a 3-pointer. Elon’s offense came out strong to begin the game, going on a 6-0 run after Banks’ 3-pointer.
App State brought sophomore forward Michael Marcus Jr. into the game, and he scored his first points of the game to make it a 2-point game. The Mountaineers were trailing, but the score remained close after Marcus Jr. scored again to cut the deficit to 1.
Elon kept pushing the pace, and a shot from behind the arc from guard Bryson Cokley extended their lead to 7.
The Mountaineers were getting to the free throw line often, with graduate student guard Kasen Jennings taking the team’s 10th shot from the stripe in the half, but the Black and Gold were just 50% to start.
After cutting the lead to 1, the Phoenix limited the App State offense to just 3 points in five minutes. The margin ballooned to 14 after the Mountaineers failed to get the ball back on a block from redshirt sophomore forward Luke Wilson.
App State continued to be stymied by the Phoenix, and ended the first half down by 21.
The Mountaineers ended the half 0-9 from the field and scored 6 points in the final 10 minutes.
Senior guard Alonzo Dodd put up the first points for the Black and Gold in the second half.
After garnering some early momentum after another basket from Dodd, Elon continued their push offensively, extending the lead to 26.
Even with the lopsided score, graduate student guard Jalen Tot knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers.
Struggles from the free throw line continued after junior forward Chad Moodie missed a pair at the stripe to put the Mountaineers at 50% from the free throw line. Elon quickly splashed a 3-pointer on the other end to extend their lead to 30.
Tot continued to be the lone bright spot for the Black and Gold, becoming the first player to reach double figures for the Mountaineers with his fourth 3-pointer of the night. A jumper on the following possession gave him 14 points.
“I know my teammates believe in me to shoot the ball,” Tot said. “It didn’t go our way as a team. I just want to continue to keep being better and better for my team.”
Elon didn’t give App State any momentum to close out the game, and won the game 88-53.
