Elon and William & Mary MBB Set for Saturday Night Tip at Schar Center

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball begins its final homestand of the season on Saturday, Feb 16, with a rematch against William & Mary inside Schar Center. The game between the Phoenix and the Tribe will tip-off at 7 p.m. and is the second of two single-week meetings between the two teams this season with the Colonial Athletic Association’s move to travel partners.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
Watch the game live on Phoenix All-Access through elonphoenix.com/live, or you can listen to the coverage on the Elon Sports Network from Learfield/IMG College through TuneIn, elonphoenix.com/live, or on CAA.tv and the CAA.tv app. The Phoenix All-Access and Elon 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 17th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the William & Mary Tribe.
• The 2,724th 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
• Saturday will be the 17th all-time meeting between Elon and William & Mary and the second time the two have met this season.
• The Tribe leads the all-time series 13-3, but the Phoenix won the most recent matchup on Jan. 19.
• Elon defeated William & Mary in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 19 with a 76-71 victory. It was Elon’s first-ever victory in Williamsburg at Kaplan Arena.
• William & Mary swept the season series in 2017-18. Elon’s comeback fell short in a 99-92 loss in Williamsburg on Feb. 1, 2018. The Tribe earned an 80-73 victory in Alumni Gym on Jan. 20, 2018.
• Prior to the win on Jan. 19, Elon’s last victory against William & Mary came on Jan. 21, 2017 in a 71-62 win inside Alumni Gym.
• Elon’s first win against the Tribe was during the team’s inaugural season in the CAA. Elon toppled the Tribe 85-79 on Jan. 8, 2015 in Alumni Gym.

SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY
• William & Mary (9-16, 5-8 CAA) has lost two straight heading into Saturday after falling in a tight 93-87 contest at league-leader Hofstra on Feb. 9.
• Nathan Knight, who was named as one of the top-10 candidates for the 2019 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, leads William & Mary in scoring (20.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.6 rpg) this season. He is bettering those averages in CAA play with 20.5 ppg and 9.7 rpg.
• Justin Pierce is second in scoring (14.5 ppg) and is tied for the team-lead with Knight in rebounding (8.6 rpg). Matt Milon is the Tribe’s third player scoring in double figures (12.1 ppg) and Chase Audige is tallying 10.5 points per contest to round out the Tribe’s top scorers.
• The Tribe leads the league in assists (17.0) and blocked shots (4.6), while ranking second in assist to turnover ratio (1.3). In CAA games only, W&M is ranked 1st in defensive rebounds (26.8), assists (18.1) and blocked shots (5.2). Additionally the Tribe ranks 4th in field goal percentage (.478).
• William & Mary has dropped seven of its last nine games with its last two wins coming on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 in Williamsburg against Drexel and Delaware, respectively.
• During non-conference action, William & Mary picked up wins against Saint Joseph’s, High Point, William Peace and Hampton. They also faced tough matchups with losses to Virginia, Notre Dame, Marshall, Old Dominion and George Mason.

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 8-18 record overall and is 4-9 in CAA action in 2018-19 following its overtime loss at Northeastern on Saturday, Feb. 9, in Boston.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer at 16.3 points and is also grabbing 5.5 boards per game. Steven Santa Ana is second on the team in scoring as he is tallying 14.8 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with 9.8 per game, which also ranks 24th in the nation. Elon’s 254 total three-pointers this season ranks 12th nationally.
• Seibring is currently 8th in the CAA in scoring (16.3), while Santa Ana ranks 14th (14.8) in the league. Santa Ana’s 6.4 rebounds ranks 11th and Seibring’s 5.4 ranks 13th in the league.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 82 total assists, which is an average of 3.4 per contest and ranks 9th 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 (.822) on the team.
• In conference play only, Elon continues to improve defensively as it ranks 4th in the league in field goal percentage defense (.446). The Phoenix is also ranked 3rd defensive rebounding averaging 25.4 per game.
• Seibring is once again is playing his best during conference play. The senior is bettering his season scoring average with 16.9 points per game and his rebounding at 6.1 per contest in 13 conference games.
• 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 1,692 career points and is the program’s all-time scoring leader during the program’s NCAA Division I ear. He is 2 rebounds (Career Total: 733) 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 795 of Elon’s 1,789 points this season, which is 44.4 percent of the team’s scoring in 2018-19.
• Seibring is having his best scoring season of his career at 16.3 points per game and ranks 7th on Elon’s all-time scoring list with 1,692 career points. Santa Ana is also having the best season of his Elon career averaging 14.8 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per contest. His 1,283 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 returns to Schar Center next week for its final two home games of the season. Elon will host UNCW on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m., followed by a matchup on Saturday, Feb. 23 against College of Charleston on Senior Night at 7 p.m.