Elon MBB Concludes Road Swing at UNCW on Saturday

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball closes out its three-game road swing in Colonial Athletic Association action on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 26, at UNCW. The game between the Phoenix and the Seahawks will tip-off at 4 p.m. inside Trask Coliseum.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
Watch the game live on CAA.tv, 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 Elon IMG Sports Network coverage will be provided by Taylor Durham and Brian Morris starting with the pregame show 3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 20th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the UNCW Seahawks.
• The 2,720th game in Elon’s program history.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,408th win in program history and Elon’s 259th Division I win.
• Be the 147th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.

THE MATCHUP
• Saturday marks the 20th all-time meeting between Elon and UNCW. The Seahawks have won eight of the last 10 meetings and have an 11-8 lead in the series. UNCW is 10-2 against the Phoenix in Elon’s Division I era.
• In the last meeting, UNCW earned an 87-63 victory on Feb. 15, 2018 inside Trask Coliseum to complete a season sweep of the Phoenix. UNCW edged Elon 80-78 in overtime in the first meeting of 2017-18 on Jan. 11, 2018.
• Elon’s last win against the Seahawks came in a 77-76 thriller on Feb. 11, 2017 inside Alumni Gym. It was Elon’s first win against UNCW since Feb. 28, 2015, as the Phoenix defeated the Seahawks 74- 55 on Senior Day inside Alumni Gym. Elon is 2-2 against UNCW at home since the Phoenix joined the CAA in 2014-15.
• The Phoenix has never won inside Trask Coliseum, but Elon’s last win in Wilmington, N.C. came on Jan. 24, 1976, in a 59-58 victory over UNCW inside Hanover Hall.

SCOUTING UNCW
• UNCW (8-13, 4-4 CAA) snapped its two-game losing streak with a 93-88 victory over William & Mary on Thursday night at Trask Coliseum.
• Devontae Cacok leads the team in scoring (15.7) and rebounding (11.9). His 11.9 rebounds per game ranks 1st in the CAA and 4th at the NCAA Division I ranks. Jeantal Cylla is 2nd on the team in scoring with 14.0 per game, while Ty Gadsden is tallying 10.4 a game. Freshman Kai Toews has tallied 160 assists this season and is averaging 7.6 per game, which ranks 3rd in the NCAA.
• The Seahawks have the third-highest scoring offense in the league (77.2 ppg) and has the second-highest assist total (15.4 apg). They also rank second in the league in offensive rebounding (11.8) per game.
• C.B. McGrath, an assistant coach on the University of North Carolina’s 2005, 2009 and 2017 national championship teams, was named the 11th men’s basketball history in UNCW history on April 3, 2017. In his second season with UNCW, McGrath has a 19-34 record with the Seahawks.
• During non-conference action, UNCW faced off against some tough competition, which included Stanford in its home opener, UNCG, Davidson, #14 North Carolina and #23 Furman. The Seahawks picked up wins against Arkansas State, East Carolina, and Eastern Illinois.

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 6-15 record overall and is 2-6 in CAA action in 2018-19 following its loss at College of Charleston on Thursday.
• The maroon and gold has played 11 times at home inside its brand-new Schar Center this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Tyler Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer at 16.7 points and is also grabbing 5.1 boards per game. Steven Santa Ana is second on the team in scoring as he is tallying 16.0 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with 9.9 per game, which also ranks 20th in the nation. Elon’s 208 total three-pointers this season ranks 13th nationally.
• Seibring is currently 6th in the CAA in scoring (16.7), while Santa Ana ranks T-9th (16.0) in the league. Santa Ana’s 6.5 rebounds ranks 11th in the CAA.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 73 total assists, which is an average of 3.8 per contest and ranks 6th in the CAA. He is also the team’s third-leading scorer with 10.0 points per game and has the second-highest free throw shooting percentage (.814) on the team.
• 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 year 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 now in the top-10 in scoring and has 1,618 career points. He is and 38 rebounds (Career Total: 697) away from entering the top-10 in program history for rebounding.
• 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 returns to Schar Center for a two-game homestand next week. Elon will first face Delaware on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., followed by Drexel on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m.