ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball closes out its two-game homestand with a matchup against the league-leading Hofstra Pride on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. inside Schar Center.
COVERAGE
Watch the game live on Phoenix All-Access, or you can listen to the coverage on the Elon IMG Sports Network through TuneIn, elonphoenix.com/live, or on CAA.tv and the CAA.tv app. The Phoenix All-Access and Elon IMG Sports Network coverage will be provided by Taylor Durham and Brian Morris starting with the pregame show 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 10th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the Hofstra Pride.
• The 2,714th game in Elon’s program history.
AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,407th win in program history and Elon’s 259th Division I win.
• Be the 146th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.
THE MATCHUP
• Saturday will be the 10th all-time meeting between Elon and Hofstra and the first time the two have met this season.
• In the last meeting, Hofstra cruised to a 67-48 victory on Feb. 8, 2018 inside Alumni Gym. Eli Pemberton finished with a game-high 27 points in the contest.
• Both teams split the season series in 2017-18 as the Phoenix picked up a 89-76 road win in Hempstead on Jan. 7, 2018 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
• The last seven meetings have occurred since the Phoenix joined the CAA in 2014-15. Hofstra holds the 6-3 lead all-time against Elon.
• After Hofstra had won the first five matchups, Elon has won three of the last four matchups, including a sweep of the season-series in 2016-17. The Phoenix defeated the Pride 96-80 on Jan. 12, 2017 inside Alumni Gym, then earned an 84-70 victory on Jan. 28, 2017 in Hempstead, N.Y.
• Prior to joining the CAA, Elon’s first-ever meeting against the Pride was during the 2009-10 NIT Season Tip-Off.
SCOUTING HOFSTRA
• Hofstra (14-3, 4-0 CAA) comes into Saturday night’s game after an unbelievable 93-90 triple overtime win over William & Mary on Thursday night. Justin Wright-Foreman scored 37 points in the contest, while sophomore Jalen Ray added 19.
• Wright-Foreman leads Hofstra in scoring at 27.3 points per game, while adding 4.9 rebounds per game and ranking second on the team with 59 assists. In CAA games only, Wright-Foreman is averaging 35.5 points per game.
• Eli Pemberton is scoring 14.0 points per game to rank second. Jacquil Taylor leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per outing, while chipping in with 6.1 points per game. Desure Buie leads the team with 86 assists ranks third in scoring with 9.8 points per game.
• As a team, Hofstra ranks 1st in the CAA in scoring (82.4 ppg), while also ranking tops several other offensive categories. Defensively, the Pride lead the lead in 3-point field goal percent defense (.316), as well as 2nd in overall field goal percentage defense (.431) and third in blocks (3.2).
• Hofstra’s only three losses this season have come in non-conference play and against good teams. The Pride lost to Marshall, who made the NCAA Tournament last season. They also suffered a loss at Maryland and fell in a heart-breaking overtime defeat at VCU.
ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 5-13 record overall and is 1-4 in CAA action in 2018-19 following its 81-70 overtime loss to Northeastern on Thursday night.
• Elon has played 10 times at home this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Steven Santa Ana is Elon’s leading scorer and rebounder at 16.8 points and 6.2 boards per game. Tyler Seibring is tallying 15.8 points after all 18 games played thus far.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with (9.9) per game, which also ranks 25th in the nation. Elon’s 179 total three-pointers this season ranks 12th nationally.
• Santa Ana is currently 6th in the CAA in scoring (16.8), while Seibring ranks 10th (15.8) in the league.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 62 total assists, which is an average of 3.9 per contest and ranks 6th in the CAA. He is also the team’s third-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game and has the second-highest free throw shooting percentage (.811) on the team, which ranks 7th in the league.
• Elon and gold returns 11 total players and three of its five starters from a year ago. One of its three returning starters, Dainan Swoope, is out for the season after having season-ending foot surgery.
• The Phoenix returns four of its top six scorers, including its 2017-18 leading scorer and rebounder in Seibring (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg).
• The program’s senior class is made up of five players (Seibring, Swoope, Santa Ana, Eberhardt and Karolis Kundrotas). Heading into the season, the five players had combined to play in a total of 437 games and make 209 starts.
• Elon made four new additions to the squad for 2018-19 in first-year players Chuck Hannah, Andy Pack, Federico Poser and Kris Wooten.
• The Phoenix has been predicted to finish eighth in the league as the CAA released its preseason men’s basketball poll on Oct. 17, during the conference’s digital media day. Tyler Seibring collected preseason All-CAA honors as he was named to the second team.
NEARING ELON HISTORY
• Senior forward Tyler Seibring is closing in on history that no player in program history at the NCAA Division I level has ever done.
• He is 28 points (Career Total: 1,551) and 55 rebounds (Career Total: 680) away from entering the top-10 in program history for each category.
• Seibring would be the first player in Elon’s NCAA Division I era (since 1999) to achieve that feat.
WOOTEN TABBED CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Wooten averaged 11.5 points while shooting 60 percent from the floor (9-15) and 55.6 percent from three-point range (5-9) as Elon split a pair of road games Nov. 18-22 during the final week of the Phoenix’s non-conference slate.
• He is Elon’s first player to earn a weekly accolade from the conference this season. He is also Elon’s first CAA Rookie of the Week selection since Tyler Seibring earned the honor for the third time his freshman campaign on Jan. 18, 2016.
SEIBRING NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
• Tyler Seibring has been named one of the 30 NCAA Division men’s basketball candidates for the 2018-18 Senior CLASS Award®
• The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• Seibring carries a 3.91 grade-point average as a double major in English and Economics.
• The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four® this spring.
JOINING THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Senior guard Steven Santa Ana became the 43rd player in program history to reach 1,000-career points against Central Penn on Nov. 27.
• Elon currently has three 1,000-point scorers on the team in Tyler Seibring, Dainan Swoope and Steven Santa Ana. Swoope and Seibring each joined the 1,000-point club as juniors.
• Seibring was the first to join, becoming the 40th player overall and the 11th junior to reach the mark. Dainan Swoope became the 42nd player overall, the 12th junior.
RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCES
• The Phoenix have twice set a program record with 19 three-pointers made in a game this season.
• Elon set the record of 19 triples in its 98-71 victory over Milligan College on Nov. 15, 2018, the program’s first-ever win in Schar Center.
• The team then matched the mark on Nov. 27, 2018 inside Schar Center during its 92-59 win over Central Penn.
SCHAR CENTER
• Elon University men’s basketball will play its games inside its new facility, Schar Center, this season after calling Alumni Gym its home since since 1950.
• Schar Center officially opened its doors in July of 2018 and was dedicated on October, 19, 2018. The 161,000-square-foot convocation center has a current capacity of 5,100-seats.
• Not only does it serve as the home for Phoenix basketball and volleyball programs, but it also serves as an event venue that will provide a large gathering space for a wide variety of major campus events such as convocations and concerts.
• The facility is named for Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla., parents of Stuart Schar ’16 and Spencer Schar ’19.
• Among Elon’s most generous donors for the project, the Schars have contributed $13 million to the university to provide lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications facilities, which features Dwight C. Schar Hall as the centerpiece.
HOW 2018-19 BEGAN
• Elon’s 110th season of basketball opened with a marquee matchup as the Phoenix hosted the No. 8-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on ESPNU in the program’s first regular season basketball game inside Schar Center on Friday, Nov. 9.
• Prior to that contest, the Phoenix opened the 2018-19 season on Nov. 6 on the road at Manhattan. Elon then competed in the Tiger Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 22-24, at Pacific University on Thanksgiving week.
• During its non-conference slate, the Phoenix scheduled a total of seven home contests, which have included North Carolina, Boston University, No. 25 Furman, UNCG and Canisius. The Phoenix then concluded non-conference action on the road at Kennesaw State and UMKC.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix begins a three-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 19, with a trip to William & Mary. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4 p.m. inside Kaplan Arena.