Elon MBB Begins Northern Road Swing at Hofstra on Thursday

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Elon University men’s basketball begins its road swing north with a rematch against league-leader Hofstra on Thursday, Feb. 7 at the David S. Mack Sports Complex. The second meeting of the season between the Phoenix and the Pride will tip-off at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
Watch the game live through Hofstra’s video stream produced by “Pride Productions” on CAA.tv. You can listen to the coverage on the Elon Learfield/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.

THURSDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 11th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the Hofstra Pride.
• The 2,723rd game in Elon’s program history.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,410th win in program history and Elon’s 260th Division I win.
• Be the 149th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.

THE MATCHUP
• Thursday is the 11th meeting all-time and second matchup this year between Elon and Hofstra.
• In the last meeting, Elon’s comeback fell short in a 74-71 loss to Hofstra on Jan. 12 in Schar Center.
• 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.
• Hofstra holds the 7-3 lead all-time against Elon. – After Hofstra had won the first five matchups, Elon has won 3 of the last 5 matchups, including a sweep of the season-series in 2016-17.
• 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 (19-4, 9-1 CAA) saw its nation’s longest 16-game win streak come to an end on Saturday when it dropped a its first league contest of the season in a 75-61 road decision at Northeastern.
• Justin Wright-Foreman leads the Pride in scoring at 25.5 points per game, while junior Eli Pemberton (15.5) and Desure Buie (10.2) are also averaging in double figures.
• Buie leads the team with 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while Jacquil Taylor is tallying 7.3 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per contest.
• As a team, Hofstra ranks 1st in the CAA in scoring (81.7 ppg), while also ranking tops several other offensive categories. Defensively, the Pride is 2nd in scoring defense (65.7 ppg), 3-point field goal percent defense (.378) and steals (6.7), as well as 3rd in overall field goal percentage defense (.437) and blocked shots (3.1).
• Wright-Foreman has scored in double figures in 76 consecutive games, tying the CAA record established by David Robinson of Navy from 1985-87.
• Three of four of Hofstra’s losses this season came 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 8-16 record overall and is 4-7 in CAA action in 2018-19 following its narrow 67-63 loss to Drexel on Saturday night at Schar Center.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer at 17.3 points and is also grabbing 5.4 boards per game. Steven Santa Ana is second on the team in scoring as he is tallying 15.4 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per game.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with 9.9 per game, which also ranks 21st in the nation. Elon’s 237 total three-pointers this season ranks 14th nationally.
• Seibring is currently 6th in the CAA in scoring (17.3), while Santa Ana ranks 13th (15.4) in the league. Santa Ana’s 6.6 rebounds ranks 11th in the CAA.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 78 total assists, which is an average of 3.5 per contest and ranks 7th in the CAA. He is also the team’s third-leading scorer with 9.5 points per game and has the second-highest free throw shooting percentage (.822) on the team.
• In conference play only, Elon continues to improve defensively as it ranks 2nd in the league in field goal percentage defense (.436), just behind Hofstra (.435). The Phoenix is also ranked 4th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.341).
• Seibring is once again is playing his best during conference play. The senior is bettering his season scoring average with 19.2 points per game in 11 conference games, good enough for 3rd in the league.
• The maroon and gold has played 12 times at home inside its brand-new Schar Center this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• 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 1,683 career points and is the program’s all-time scoring leader during the program’s NCAA Division I ear. He is 15 rebounds (Career Total: 720) 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.

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
• During Elon’s three-game road trip from Jan. 19-26, the Phoenix posted a 2-1 mark, which included victories at William & Mary and UNCW.
• The Phoenix claimed its first-ever victory in Williamsburg and first win in Kaplan Arena on Jan. 19 with a 76-71 victory over the Tribe.
• Elon then bounced back from a loss at Charleston to earn its first-ever win inside Trask Coliseum with a 89-82 victory over UNCW. It was the program’s first win in Wilmington in 43 years with the previous victory coming on Jan. 24, 1976 at Hanover Hall.

DYNAMIC SENIOR DUO
• Seniors Tyler Seibring and Steven Santa Ana have combined for 771 of Elon’s 1,668 points this season, which is 46.2 percent of the team’s scoring in 2018-19.
• Seibring is having his best scoring season of his career at 17.3 points per game and ranks 7th on Elon’s all-time scoring list with 1,683 career points. Santa Ana is also having the best season of his Elon career averaging 15.4 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per contest. His 1,268 career points currently ranks 21st in program history.

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 concludes its northern trek on Saturday, Feb. 9, against Northeastern. Tip-off between the Phoenix and the Huskies is at 4 p.m. inside Matthews Arena.