Elon Men’s Basketball Welcomes VMI to Alumni Gym on Tuesday Night

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team concludes a four-game home stand on Tuesday night, Dec. 3, when the Phoenix welcomes the VMI Keydets to Alumni Gym for a 7 p.m. tip.

ELON VS. VMI: Tuesday night marks the 14th all-time meeting between Elon and VMI. The Keydets hold a slight 7-6 edge over the Phoenix after winning last year’s game in Lexington, Va., 90-81. Elon could not find an answer for VMI’s Stan Okoye, who netted a game-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting. The series between Elon and VMI dates all the way back to the 1913-14 season when Elon won the first-ever meeting at VMI by a score of 16-15. In games played on Elon’s campus, the Phoenix holds a 2-0 record against the Keydets. Elon won 22-21 over VMI on Jan. 30, 1917, before capturing a 70-69 decision on Dec. 2, 1998, 81 years later.

LOOKING BACK: For the fourth time in as many meetings, Elon and Columbia came down to the wire on Sunday, Dec. 1, as the Phoenix captured a 68-65 overtime win. Kevin Blake came off the bench and gave the Phoenix the spark it needed, scoring 12 points in 15 minutes of action. Lucas Troutman scored 16 points to go along with seven boards and five blocks.

LOOKING AHEAD: Following Tuesday’s game against VMI, Elon has a 10-day break for final exams before it hits the road to face Colorado on Dec. 13 in Boulder, Colo. Elon has two players that hail from the Denver area – Ryan Winters and Tanner Samson.

TRACKING THE THREES: Jack Isenbarger enters Tuesday’s game with 221 career three-pointers made, which ranks second all-time in Elon history behind Chris Kiger’s (1994-98) career mark of 259.

MILESTONE WATCH: Both Sebastian Koch (848 points) and Ryley Beaumont (849 points) are in line to be the next Elon players to reach 1,000 career points. Elon currently has two players with over 1,000 career points in Lucas Troutman (1,269) and Jack Isenbarger (1,207). Troutman jumped ahead of former teammate Drew Spradlin for 17th on Elon’s all-time scoring chart following his 16-point performance against Columbia.

BLOCK PARTY: With five blocked shots against Columbia on Dec. 1, Lucas Troutman extended his program-best career mark to 170 blocks. Troutman set Elon’s all-time blocks record last season.

FROM LONG RANGE: Elon currently leads the Southern Conference in three-point field goal percentage at 45.2 percent. Tanner Samson leads the conference in three-pointers made with 25, while Sebastian Koch is tied for second with 22.

HOME COOKING: Over the last three years, Elon has a 25-8 record inside the friendly confines of Alumni Gym. Elon has sold out Alumni Gym nine times under head coach Matt Matheny, with its last sellout coming on Nov. 8, 2013, on opening night when the Phoenix topped Washington & Lee.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY: Matt Matheny is in his fifth season as the Elon head men’s basketball coach. The 2013 Southern Conference Coach of the Year by the media, Matheny enters Tuesday’s game with an overall record of 63-72. Matheny was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham Award last season, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.