MBB ‘White Out’ Set for Elon vs. CofC on Wednesday

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team renews its rivalry with College of Charleston on Wednesday night, Jan. 14, when the Cougars invade Alumni Gym for a 7 p.m. tip. The game is a White Out and fans are encouraged to wear white to the game.

ELON VS. COFC: Wednesday night marks the 19th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Cougars. CofC leads the series, 13-5. The Cougars won the last meeting, a 68-60 decision in the 2013 Southern Conference Tournament semifinals in Asheville, N.C. The last two regular season meetings between the two schools have been decided by a combined three points, with both contests coming at Alumni Gym. CofC claimed a 56-54 win on Dec. 1, 2012 after the Phoenix won a double-overtime thriller, 99-98, on Feb. 2, 2012, a season prior.

LOOKING BACK: Elon suffered a 79-61 setback to CAA leader Hofstra on Jan. 10 at Alumni Gym, as the Pride drained 14 threes – a season high for an Elon opponent.

HOME SWEET HOME: Elon enters Wednesday’s game with a 36-13 record at Alumni Gym over the last four seasons. Elon is 5-2 at home this season.

CAREER DAY: Elijah Bryant’s 32 points at Drexel on Jan. 3 are the most by an Elon player since Jack Isenbarger’s 34 vs. The Citadel on Feb. 4, 2012. Bryant is the first Phoenix player with 10 or more field goals in a game since Lucas Troutman had 11 in Elon’s overtime win at Davidson last season.

FROM DEEP: With two three-point makes against Hofstra, Tanner Samson now sits at 195 in his career, good for sixth in school history. Samson needs five threes to pass Chris Chalko for fifth in school history. The junior from Littleton, Colo., ranks first in the CAA in threes made with 56 (fifth nationally) and three-point attempts with 152 (third nationally).

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY: The 2014-15 season marks the sixth year at Elon for head coach Matt Matheny. Matheny enters Wednesday’s game with a career record of 87-89. Matheny was voted by the Southern Conference media as the Coach of the Year in 2012-13 and was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham award, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.

ROAD TO BALTIMORE: The 2015 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship is scheduled for March 6-9 in Baltimore, Md., at Royal Farms Arena. Last year, Delaware topped William & Mary, 75-74, in the championship game to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.