Elon Men’s Basketball Snaps Skid with 68-53 Victory at Saint Peter’s

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Elon University men’s basketball team had four players finish in double figures and used an 18-5 run in the second half to solidify a 68-53 victory at Saint Peter’s on Sunday, Dec. 18, inside the Yanitelli Center.

BOX SCORE

“It was a great team-victory,” said head coach Matt Matheny. “Our guys showed a lot of toughness and resiliency in adverse situations. I thought we played really well together and I’m most pleased with the way we defended for 40 minutes.”

Brian Dawkins led the way for the Phoenix (7-4) with 18 points and Tyler Seibring added 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Steven Santa Ana and Dainan Swoope also finished in double figures with 12 points each. Swoope also dished out a career-high eight assists. Sheldon Eberhardt came off the bench to score nine points and grab seven rebounds.

Cavon Baker was the high-scorer for the Peacocks (4-6) with 13 points. Quadir Welton grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for Saint Peter’s. Both Chazz Patterson and Welton finished with a team-best three assists.

HIGHLIGHTS
Saint Peter’s opened the game with an 8-2 run, but Elon responded with a 13-4 spurt to take a 15-12 lead after Dmitri Thompson’s three-pointer at the 11:14 mark. The Phoenix then pushed its lead to five, 23-18, with 6:19 on the clock. The Peacocks were able to tie up the game at the break with Patterson’s three pointer to end the half.

Brian Dawkins scored eight points in the first four minutes of the second half to spark a 12-0 Elon run, which guided the Phoenix to a 38-26 lead. Saint Peter’s answered with a 12-0 run of its own to tie the game back up 38-38 and leveled the score again, 40-40, with 13:02 to go after Tyler Wyche’s triple.

The Phoenix surged to a 13-point lead, 58-45, using a key 18-5 run over the next nine minutes, which included six points from both Eberhardt and Swoope. Saint Peter’s was able to cut Elon’s lead to seven, 58-51, with 2:20 remaining. However, Steven Santa Ana stepped up and made a clutch three pointer at the 2:03 mark to put the Phoenix ahead by 10.

Swoope’s three pointer with 1:12 left answered Mamadou Ndiaye’s dunk to push Elon’s lead to 11. Seibring and Dawkins made the final buckets of the game to give the Phoenix its largest lead of the contest, securing Elon’s victory.

NOTES
– Tyler Seibring set a new career-high with three blocks against the Peacocks.
– Brian Dawkins scored in double figures for the ninth time in 11 games and led the Phoenix in scoring for the fourth time this season.
– Dainan Swoope finished with a career-high eight assists in his second-career start.
– Elon matched a season-high with 14 three pointers against the Peacocks. The Phoenix also made 14 at Northern Illinois on Nov. 25.
– The Phoenix set a season-high with 19 assists at Saint Peter’s.
– Elon improves its record to 6-2 this season when it has four or more players with double-figure scoring.

UP NEXT
The Elon Phoenix returns to North Carolina on Wednesday, Dec. 21, to host the No. 5-ranked Duke Blue Devils in Greensboro, N.C. inside the Greensboro Coliseum. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.