Elon MBB Hosts Drexel to Begin Conference Action

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball opens Colonial Athletic Association league action on Saturday, Dec. 30, hosting Drexel inside historic Alumni Gym. The ninth all-time meeting between the two sides tips off at 2 p.m.
GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
Watch the Phoenix in action against the Peacocks on Phoenix All-Access or listen to the Elon IMG Sports Network broadcast on WSJS 104.5 FM and 1200 AM, or on elonphoenix.com. Matt Krause will have the call on the video broadcast. Taylor Durham and Brian Morris will call the action on the radio broadcast with the pregame show starting at 1:30 p.m.

CAMPER NIGHT
The Phoenix hosts Camper Night inside Alumni Gym on Saturday! Elon basketball campers will receive free admission and anyone accompanying the campers will qualify for discounted admission.

BAG POLICY AT ALUMNI GYM
Elon University has implemented a policy for bags entering Alumni Gym. All bags entering the arena will be checked before fans reach the ticket booths at the facility. Multiple lines will be available and there will be specific lines for fans entering with no bags.

The following items will be prohibited from Alumni Gym:
• Weapons
• Explosives
* Alcoholic beverages
• Outside food and beverages
• Smoking and tobacco products
• E-cigarettes
• Containers or coolers
• Flags on poles
• Hoverboards
• Pets (except service animals)

BASKETBALL GAME DAY
For more information on ticketing, parking and directions to Alumni Gym, please visit the Basketball Game Day web page.

THE SERIES
• Saturday marks the ninth all-time meeting between Elon and Drexel, and fourth time the foes have faced off inside Alumni Gym.
• Last season, Elon swept the regular season series for the second straight year, winning 93-73 in Alumni Gym on Jan. 19, 2017 and earning the 65-56 victory at Drexel on Feb. 18, 2017. Elon has won four of the last five meetings against Drexel.
• The Dragons last victory over the Phoenix was in the 2016 CAA Championship First Round as they edged Elon 57-56 on March 4, 2015 at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. The first-ever meeting between Elon and Drexel took place on Nov. 18, 2013 in Piscataway N.J. as part of the NIT Season Tip-off. The Dragons won 71-64 as the eighth seed in the preseason tournament.

LAST TIME OUT
• Elon closed out non-conference play with a 73-68 victory over Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Conference on Friday, Dec. 22, at the Hulman Center. The Phoenix has as much as a 17-point lead and used a late 9-2 run in the second half to close out the win.
• Dmitri Thompson (19pts/10rebs) and Tyler Seibring (17pts/10rebs) each finished with a double-double for the Phoenix.
• Thompson was involved in eight of Elon’s last nine points over the final two-minutes of the contest, scoring six points and assisting on two from Sheldon Eberhardt, to help close out the win.

A LOOK AT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 8-5 record overall this season, completing non-conference play with eight or more wins for the 4th straight year.
• Elon is averaging 73.3 ppg and allowing 72.5 ppg thus far through 13 games. The team has only been held to under 70 points 4 times and under 60 points twice this season.
• The Phoenix was averaging 78.7 points in the first nine contests, until it was held to 44 points at UNCG (12/7) and 51 at Canisius (12/17).
• Elon is 2nd in the CAA averaging 10.6 made three pointers a game and 3rd in the league with 15.7 assists per contest.
• The Phoenix continues to improve defensively, only allowing teams to shoot 41.7% from the floor which ranks 3rd in the CAA. Elon is also 1st in the league in defensive rebounds, averaging 30.5 per game.
• Dainan Swoope is currently Elon’s leading scorer at 14.7 ppg, Brian Dawkins is 11th in the league averaging a team-best 6.0 rpg, while Sheldon Eberhardt is 6th in the CAA with 3.6 apg.
• Eberhardt has the 5th-best assist/turnover ratio in the CAA with a 2.4 ratio with 47 assists to 20 turnovers.
• Elon returned all five starters and its top five scorers from a team that finished 18-14 overall and placed tied for fourth in the CAA with a 10-8 mark in 2016-17.
• Four of the five starters averaged double-figure scoring last season, led by 2016-17 All-CAA Second Team forward Tyler Seibring, who averaged a team-high 14.4 ppg.
• Brian Dawkins finished second on the team in scoring at 12.9 ppg, while Steven Santa Ana and Dainan Swoope each scored 11.7 ppg. Dmitri Thompson posted 8.9 ppg as a junior last season.
• Dawkins, Thompson, Jack Anton, Jack George and Collin Luther make up this year’s senior class.
• Elon also made three additions this past offseason, bringing in freshman guard Nathan Priddy and forwards Simon Wright and Duje Radja into the fold.

DEFENDING WITHOUT FOULING
• Elon has not committed many fouls this season and averages 12.8 personal fouls per game, which is the lowest in NCAA Division I basketball.
• Notre Dame (13.0 pfpg) and George Washington (13.3 pfpg) rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
• The team’s season total of 167 fouls in 13 games is the 3rd-least in the country.

SWOOPE THERE IT IS
• Dainan Swoope is Elon’s leading scorer through 13 games averaging 14.7 ppg, exactly a 3-point increase from his 11.7 ppg last season.
• Swoope has scored in double figures 10 times thus far and is currently 13th in the CAA in scoring.
• The junior point guard makes 85.1% of his shots from the free throw line, which is 1st in the CAA and is 3rd in the league with 37 made three-pointers.
• Swoope is also 7th in the CAA in assists averaging 3.4 dimes per game this season.
• Before suffering an ankle injury in the second half at UNCG, Swoope was averaging 17.1 ppg in the first nine contests.
• He had 20+ points in four straight games from Nov. 17-22 and averaged 23.8 ppg during that span.
• Most recently, his last 20+ point game came in a 77-74 win over Radford on Nov. 22, when he scored 24.
• During the Black & Gold Shootout, Swoope matched a career-high with 26 points in Elon’s triple OT win vs. FIU (11/17), followed with a 25-point game vs. Concordia-St. Paul (11/18) and scored 20 points against Milwaukee (11/19).

PROVIDING A SPARK
• Sheldon Eberhardt has made an impact off the bench, scoring in double-figures three times this season for the Phoenix.
• He posted a career-high 10 assists in Elon’s victory over Saint Peter’s, which was the first time an Elon player had 10 or more assists in a game since Chris Long had 10 on Feb. 19, 2011 against UNCG.
• Eberhardt is currently averaging 6.5 points and a team-high 3.6 assists per contest. He also has the highest shooting percentage on the team at 49.3%.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS
• Three Phoenix are less than 200 points away and two are less and 100 from reaching 1,000 career points. Elon currently has 39 players in program history that have reached the 1,000-point mark.
• Dmitri Thompson is the closest with 937 career points and is just 63 points away. Tyler Seibring is right behind with 928 career points and is within 72 points. Dainan Swoope has 856 career points, just 144 away. Seibring and Swoope would become the 11th and 12th players in program history to reach the 1,000 career-point total as juniors.

IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE
• Four of five Elon starters are averaging doubles figures in this early part of the season. Swoope leads the way with 14.7 ppg, while Tyler Seibring is second averaging 11.9 ppg.
• Rounding out the top scorers are Brian Dawkins, who is averaging 11.7 ppg, and Thompson who is at 10.5 ppg.
• Steven Santa Ana are right there averaging 9.5 ppg.
• Elon has had six different players finish in double figures this season and four have led their team in scoring during games.
• The Phoenix has had at least three players finish in double-figures in 10 games this season. The only three times this season Elon had less in a game was two against Radford (11/22) and at UNCG (12/7) and one at Canisius (12/17).

370 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 370 consecutive games (not including exhibition games). The matchup on Feb. 4, 2017 at College of Charleston marked the 350th consective game.
• The last time Elon did not make a three in a game was Jan. 30, 2006, at Georgia Southern when the team went 0-of-14 from deep.
• The Phoenix is currently averaging 10.6 triples per contest, which ranks second in the CAA. Elon has attempted 402 three-pointers this season, the 12th-most in the country.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT NOV. 30…

• The Phoenix defeated USF by a score of 79-78 in overtime on Thursday, Nov. 30, inside Alumni Gym.
• For three straight seasons since 2015, Elon has now played an overtime game inside Alumni Gym and won on Nov. 30 for three straight years.
• Elon came back from an eight-point deficit with 18 seconds to play to force overtime and defeat Kennesaw State 103-93 on Nov. 30, 2015.
• Last season, Elon defeated FIU 84-81 in an overtime thriller on Nov. 30, 2016.

WHAT A THRILLER
• Elon erased a 13-point deficit to defeat Florida International in triple overtime on Friday, Nov. 17, to open the Black & Gold Shootout.
• It was only the second triple overtime game Elon has played since becoming a Division I program in 1999-2000.
• The Phoenix improves to 2-0 in triple overtime games since becoming a Division I program. Elon defeated UNCG 112-108 in the team’s last 3OT game on Feb. 28, 2004.

SCOUTING DREXEL
• The Dragons come into CAA play with a 6-7 record and finished non-conference play winning just one of its last four games.
• Tramaine Isabell leads the team in scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg) after non-conference action. He scored a career-high 35 points vs. Rider on Dec. 2 and was named the CAA Co-Player of the Week. He is currently fourth in the CAA in scoring this season.
• Like the Phoenix, Drexel has shown a scoring balance this season with four of its five starters averaging double figures this season.
• Second-year Drexel Head Coach Zach Spiker brought an up-tempo offense to the squad. There is no denying that points come much quicker than they have in the past. Last year, Drexel averaged 74.9 points per game. That was the highest scoring average since the Dragons joined the CAA prior to the 2001-02 season.
• In addition to the up-tempo offense, Drexel is taking and making more three-pointers than it ever has. Last year, the team made 256 three-pointers, 15 more than any other Drexel team.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix hosts the Towson Tigers on Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym to begin a stretch of three games in six days in CAA action.