ELON, N.C., NOV. 30, 2017 – The Bulls were unable to convert on the final possession of overtime, dropping a thriller to Elon, 79-78, in the first overtime game for the Bulls since Dec. 12, 2016 against Bethune-Cookman.

The three graduate transfers led the way for the Bulls, scoring 58 of the 78 USF points. Payton Banks (Orange, Calif.) scored dropped in 23, a season high and one off his career high. Banks hit four threes, a feat he's accomplished in three games this season.

Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md.) had a season-high 21 points and Terrence Samuel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 14. Tulio Da Silva (Formiga, Brazil) was the leader on the glass, pulling down nine boards.

Isaiah Manderson (Bronx, N.Y) had eight points and five rebounds, both of which are his best as a Bull.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory on his team down the stretch:
"We did what we wanted to do, we attacked the basket on all three of those plays. We just didn't get to the line, didn't get the finish. I'm disappointed in that. And obviously we didn't rebound well enough. Our guys showed a little grit to battle back and make some plays, but just a few too many mistakes."
Gregory on the final possession:
"We wanted Jiggetts to get in the lane. He didn't run it as fast as we would like. I wanted him to try to get all the way to the basket, but we didn't run that quite as well. But he had a clean look at the basket, and we had guys on the glass to rebound. And that's exactly what you want. You want to try to get the first shot up with time to get a second one. I thought Tulio was in good position to rebound, and Malik running back in the play after screening. Give them credit. They made a good defensive play in the end. "

Key Stats
47.0 – The Bulls shot 47.0 percent (8-for-17) from three, a new season high.
40 – Elon scored 40 points in the paint, compared to 22 for the Bulls.
2:49 – USF was held scoreless over the final 2:49 of overtime.

Notable

• Freshman guard David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) missed tonight's game with a left knee injury and is out pending further evaluation.
• Tulio Da Silva had seven boards in 13 first-half minutes, one off of his season high. He set his season high in the game, finishing with nine total rebounds.
• The Bulls were a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line in the first half, the fourth time in eight games that the Bulls hit the halftime locker room perfect from the line.
• USF held Elon to 27.0 percent (8-of-30) from beyond the arc. Elon entered the game shooting 38.6 percent from three.

Up Next
USF continues its two-game swing trip through North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Appalachian State. The Bulls and the Mountaineers will tip off at 7 p.m.

About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, Gregory was introduced as the 10^th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa.

USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids and appeared in the NIT eight times.

For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.