Elon Men’s Basketball Hosts Samford on Saturday Night

ELON, N.C. – Winners of four straight, the Elon men’s basketball team returns home on Saturday night, Feb. 15, to host the Samford Bulldogs. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Alumni Gym.

THE SERIES: Saturday night marks the 12th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Bulldogs. Elon trails in the series, 8-3, after dropping the first meeting against Samford on Jan. 25, 62-59. Elon is 1-5 all-time in games played at the Pete Hanna Center and 3-2 against the Bulldogs inside Alumni Gym. The last time the two schools met on Elon’s campus was Feb. 2 last season, as the Phoenix claimed a 77-66 decision.

LOOKING BACK: Jack Isenbarger’s three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left lifted Elon to a 60-59 win over Georgia Southern on Feb. 8 inside Alumni Gym. Elon overcame a lackluster shooting performance with solid defense and Isenbarger’s late-game heroics to escape with the victory over the Eagles, its fourth straight win.

SNOWPOCALYPSE: Elon’s game at Furman on Feb. 12 was cancelled due to heavy snowfall in the region. Several Southern Conference games and games across the country were postponed due to the inclement weather. Elon’s campus was closed Wednesday through Friday this week due to the snow. Elon’s game at Furman will now be played on Feb. 24 in Greenville, S.C.

GOING STREAKING: Elon’s current four-game winning streak matches last year’s four-game winning streak during the month of February. Elon’s longest winning streak under head coach Matt Matheny was last season when it won seven straight from Jan. 14 to Feb. 2. The longest winning streak in Elon history is 14 games (1939-40 season). The longest winning streak during Elon’s Division I era is eight games (2005-06 season).

LOOKING AHEAD: Following Saturday’s game against Samford, Elon heads to the Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday night, Feb. 19, to face UNCG.

HOME COOKING: Over the last three years, Elon has a 32-9 record inside the friendly confines of Alumni Gym. Elon has sold out Alumni Gym 11 times under head coach Matt Matheny, with its most recent sellout coming on Feb. 8 versus Georgia Southern. Elon is 10-2 at home this year and has won 17-of-20 inside Alumni Gym. Against league foes, Elon is 18-5 over the last three years.

THE CORE FOUR: Elon joined North Dakota State as the only school in the nation with four 1,000-point scorers on its current team on Thursday, Feb. 6, when Ryley Beaumont reached the career milestone. Beaumont joined teammates Lucas Troutman, Jack Isenbarger and Sebastian Koch in the 1,000-point club.

STAY CLASSY: This year’s senior class of Ryley Beaumont, Egheosa Edomwonyi, Jack Isenbarger, Sebastian Koch and Lucas Troutman has totaled 64 wins during its tenure at Elon, which is the most by a class during the school’s Division I era. The 1974 class, led by Clarence “Diffy” Ross, holds the all-time record for wins by a senior class with 85. The class of 1974 played with a total of eight players that have scored 1,000 or more points in their career at Elon.

TROUTMAN DUNKS: Lucas Troutman has tallied a total of 22 dunks this season. When Troutman dunks, Elon is 10-7. When Troutman does not dunk, Elon is 3-4. Troutman has registered a total of four multi-dunk games, including a season-high three at Chattanooga on Jan. 23. Troutman has nine dunks in Elon’s last eight games.

ELON IN SOCON PLAY: The Phoenix is in its 11th season as a member of the Southern Conference. Elon is 89-96 (including tournament action) against current members of the Southern Conference since the 2003-04 campaign. Elon went 13-5 against league foes during the regular season last year, winning the SoCon North Division title. Matt Matheny has a 41-41 record in SoCon play.

FROM LONG RANGE: Elon currently leads the Southern Conference in three-point field goal percentage at 38 percent and threes made with 208. Sebastian Koch (66) and Tanner Samson (63) rank first and third in the league in threes made, respectively. The long-distance duo ranks fourth and fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage, respectively.

BLOCK PARTY: With two blocks against UNCG on Feb. 6, Lucas Troutman extended his program-best career mark to 197 blocks. Troutman set Elon’s all-time blocks record last season and ranks eighth all-time in Southern Conference history in blocks and needs one block to pass Davidson’s Jake Cohen for seventh in league history. Troutman is the conference’s active leader in career blocks.

TRACKING THE THREES: Jack Isenbarger enters Saturday’s game with 251 career three-pointers made, which ranks second all-time in Elon history behind Chris Kiger’s (1994-98) career mark of 259. Isenbarger is the Southern Conference’s active leader in career triples. Sebastian Koch ranks third all-time in career threes with 232.

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 Saturday’s game with an overall record of 73-79. Matheny was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham Award last season, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.