Elon MBB Falls to William & Mary at Schar Center

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball couldn’t overcome William & Mary’s second-half surge in a 84-74 loss to the Tribe on Saturday night, Feb. 16, inside Schar Center.

BOX SCORE

Elon (8-19, 4-10 CAA) had four players score in double figures and were led by Tyler Seibring’s 11th-career double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds. Additionally, Steven Santa Ana scored 15 points, Nathan Priddy added 14, and Sheldon Eberhardt tallied 13 for the Phoenix. The trio each finished with a team-best four assists on the night.

William & Mary (10-16, 6-8 CAA) was paced by Nathan Knight’s 35 points and 13 rebounds. Justin Pierce also tallied a double-double with 18 points and 12 boards. Matt Milon rounded out William & Mary’s top scorers with 19 points, which included 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range.

HIGHLIGHTS
Elon held a slight 38-34 advantage at the break after an even half of play between both teams. The Phoenix locked down defensively in the first 20 minutes as it held the Tribe to 39 percent (12-33) shooting from the floor and a 33.3 percent (3-9) clip from three.

Both teams would each hold as much as a four-point advantage in the half. The Tribe stayed in the contest after the first half thanks to a huge performance from Knight of 21 points and 10 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

The Phoenix would take its largest lead of the game at the 18:12 mark in the second half after Chuck Hannah’s layup gave Elon a 43-38 advantage. After the score leveled up for the ninth time in the game at 55-55 with 12:26 remaining, William & Mary used a 7-0 run to create some separation at take a 62-55 lead.

Elon was able to cut the deficit to as little as three points after Seibring’s jumper cut William & Mary’s lead to 75-72 with 3:33 on the clock. However, the Tribe limited Elon to just two points over the final minutes and were able to pull away for the 84-74 win. W&M shot 51.6 percent (16-31) from the floor and 5-of-8 from three in the second half to surge to victory.

NOTES
– Tyler Seibring became the first NCAA Division I player in Elon’s history to enter the program’s top-10 charts for career points and rebounds. He now has 1,709 points (7th all-time) and 747 rebounds (10th all-time) for his career.
– Seibring tallied his 11th-career double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds against the Tribe.
– Additionally, Seibring moved into 3rd all-time on the three-point charts, increasing his career total to 260 made triples.

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.