Elon MBB Phoenix Faces William & Mary in CAA Quarterfinals on Saturday

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The No. 5-seeded Elon University Phoenix men’s basketball team opens the 2017 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships on Saturday, March 4, in the quarterfinals against the No. 5 seed William & Mary inside the North Charleston Coliseum. The game is slated to tip off at 2:30 p.m. or will begin following the conclusion of the first quarterfinal matchup at noon.

GAME NOTES

COVERAGE
Watch the action live nationally on Comcast SportsNet and will be available online at CAA.TV. Listen to the action on the Elon IMG Sports Network on 104.5 FM, 1200 AM or on the TuneIn app. Taylor Durham and Ryan Meizinger will have the call from Alumni Gym and the pregame show begins at approximately 2 p.m.

PREGAME SOCIAL
The Elon Phoenix Club is hosting a pregame social on Saturday, 12-2 p.m. at the Charleston Area Convention Center (Exhibit Hall B). To register for the event, click here.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Under head coach Matt Matheny, Elon is 5-7 in tournament play. Last season, Elon was the No. 8 seed and fell to the No. 9 seed Drexel, 57-56, in the first round of the 2016 CAA Championship.
• The only under time prior to last season under Matheny that Elon had not won a conference game was the 2014 SoCon Tournament, when the maroon and gold dropped a quarterfinals decision to eventual tournament runner-up Western Carolina.
• Elon’s lone trip to a conference championship game during the school’s Division I era was in 2008 when the Phoenix dropped a 65-49 decision to Stephen Curry and 23rd-ranked Davidson. The Wildcats went on to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament that season with Matheny as the associate head coach on staff.
• Current Elon assistant coaches Monty Sanders and Chris Long were both players on the Phoenix squad that season.

SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday is the 13th all-time meeting between Elon and William & Mary and the third meeting this season. This will also be the second time in three years as a member of the CAA that the Phoenix has faced the Tribe in a conference tournament quarterfinals as Elon matched up with William & Mary during the 2015 tournament.
• Prior to the last matchup on Jan. 21, the Tribe had won five straight meetings against the Phoenix. William & Mary leads the all-time series 10-2 and have the 5-2 advantage during Elon’s Division I era.
• Both teams split the regular season series. Elon defeated William & Mary in the most recent matchup on Jan. 21, 71-62, inside Alumni Gym. The Tribe won the first matchup this season in Williamsburg, escaping with an 88-85 victory on Jan. 5.
• In 2015-16, William and Mary swept the season series, winning 75-65 on Feb. 25, 2016 inside Alumni Gym and 89-67 on Jan. 21, 2016 at Kaplan Arena.
• Before this season’s matchup, Elon’s last win against the Tribe was during the maroon and gold’s inaugural season in the CAA. Elon toppled the Tribe 85-79 on Jan. 8, 2015 in Alumni Gym.

SEEDING HISTORY
This year marks the third time at the Division I level that Elon has been a No. 5 seed in a conference tournament. Prior to this season, the last time Elon was the No. 5 seed was in the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament. This year marks Elon’s 16th conference tournament at the Division I level. The Phoenix was not eligible to compete in the Big South Conference Tournament until the 2001-02 season.

Year   Seed   Rd.               Eliminated Opponent
2016   #8     First Round       Drexel
2015   #8     Quarterfinals     William & Mary
2014   #4     Quarterfinals     W. Carolina
2013   #2     Semifinals        Col. of Charleston
2012   #2N    Semifinals        Davidson
2011   #4N    Quarterfinals     Col. of Charleston
2010   #6N    Quarterfinals     W. Carolina
2009   #5N    Quarterfinals     Chattanooga
2008   #7     Championship      Davidson
2007   #10    First Round       W. Carolina
2006   #2     Semifinals        Davidson
2005   #8     Quarterfinals     Davidson
2004   #3N    Quarterfinals     Davidson
2003   #4     Quarterfinals     UNC Asheville
2002   #5     Semifinals        Winthrop

MARCH MADNESS
Going into Saturday’s game against William & Mary, Elon is 14-17 in the month of March during the school’s Division I era. Elon has never made the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level. Elon’s only postseason appearance at the D-I level was the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).

ELON NOTES
• Tyler Seibring was named to the All-CAA Second Team on Thursday evening. Seibring is Elon’s first second-team selection and highest all-conference selection as a member of the CAA. It’s the highest overall selection since Lucas Troutman ’14 was a first-team honoree in 2014.
• Seibring was also named an to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team on Thursday. It’s the first Academic All-American selection for the program since Drew Spradlin in 2011.
• For the third consecutive season, Elon has had the most players of any team in the league selected to the CAA All-Academic Team. The Phoenix topped its total from the first two seasons in the CAA with four selections this season (Steven Santa Ana, Tyler Seibring, Dainan Swoope and Patrick Ryan).
• The Phoenix has stepped up defensively during conference play, leading the league in field goal percentage defense (41.7%) in CAA games. Elon has held 12 of its last 14 opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• The Phoenix has had balanced scoring this season. Six different Elon players have scored 20 or more in a game this season. Dmitri Thompson was the first Phoenix this season to score 20+ in two consecutive games.
• The Phoenix has eclipsed the 15 or more win total for the fifth consecutive season for the first time since the 1987-88 season.
• Elon is 10-1 when holding teams to under 40% from the field.
• The matchup at Northeastern on Jan. 26 was the first time Elon has held an opponent to 50 points or less since holding Furman to 49 points on Feb. 24, 2014.
• Elon won three straight conference games at home by 10+ points from Jan. 7-19, the first time the Phoenix has done so in the program’s Division I era (since 1999-00).

CAA POSTSEASON HONORS
• Tyler Seibring earned All-CAA Second Team honors on Thursday. He averaged 15.9 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, and made 46.1% of his threes in conference play.
• Seibring, Steven Santa Ana, Dainan Swoope and Patrick Ryan were named to the CAA All-Academic team. For the third straight season, Elon had the most players named to the All-Academic Team out of all CAA members.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
• Tyler Seibring was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team on Thursday. He is the program’s 12th Academic All-American, the eighth player overall to earn the honor, and is the third during Elon’s Division I era.
• He is the first player since Drew Spradlin in 2011 to earn the honor. Spradlin was also a third team selection.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Elon leads the league in field goal percentage defense (42.1%) during CAA games. Elon has held 10 of its last 12 opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor.
• Elon is averaging 28.6 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks 14th in NCAA Division I and first in the CAA.
• The maroon and gold ranks second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (32.6%), just behind College of Charleston (31.8%).

FREE THROW SUCCESS
• In conference games only, Elon is second in the league shooting 73.2% from the line through 18 games. Elon has made 80% of above from the line in six of those contests.
• The Phoenix had its best shooting performance from the line on Thursday, Feb. 2, against James Madison, finishing 22-of-23 (95.7%) from the stripe.

UP NEXT
If the No. 5-seed Elon Phoenix defeats No. 4 William & Mary, the maroon and gold will face the winner of UNCW vs. Hofstra/Delaware. The semifinal matchup would be on Sunday, March 5, at 2 p.m.