Elon Men’s Basketball Welcomes Central Penn to Alumni Gym on Thursday Night

ELON, N.C. – Coming off back-to-back road games at Colorado and Georgetown, the Elon University men’s basketball team returns to Alumni Gym battle tested on Thursday night, Dec. 19, when the Phoenix hosts Central Pennsylvania College. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and admission is $12.

ELON VS. CENTRAL PENN: Thursday night marks the first ever meeting between Elon and the Central Penn Knights.

ABOUT CENTRAL PENN: Central Penn is located in Summerdale, Pa., which is six miles north of Harrisburg, Pa. Central Penn was founded in 1881 and has an enrollment of 1,400. The Phoenix and Knights have one common opponent this season in Columbia. Central Penn competes in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). The USCAA is a national organization that provides quality athletic competition on a regional and national level for smaller institutions of higher learning and their student athletes. The Knights are led by head coach Dave Baker.

LOOKING BACK: Elon fell short of snapping Georgetown’s 46-game non-conference home winning streak on Tuesday, Dec. 17, as the Hoyas rallied in the second half to claim an 85-76 decision over the Phoenix. Elon led by one point, 40-39, at the half, but Georgetown began the second session on a 14-5 run to go ahead by eight, 53-45, with 14:26 to play. The Phoenix battled back to make it a four-point game with 1:04 to play after Sebastian Koch completed an old-fashioned three-point play following a jumper off the glass and a made free throw to limit the Hoyas to a 78-74 lead. But GU made Elon pay with key free throws late, hitting 7-of-8 from the line from that point forward to keep the Phoenix at arm’s length to secure the win. Elon won the battle on the glass against the Hoyas, 31-30, and shot 45 percent (13-of-29) from long range against the BIG EAST’s leader in three-point field goal percentage defense. Elon’s 13 makes from beyond the arc more than double the highest amount of three-point field goals the Hoyas have given up in a game this season.

LOOKING AHEAD: Following Thursday’s game, Elon treks to Boca Raton, Fla., to face Mike Jarvis’ Florida Atlantic Owls. Elon won last year’s meeting versus FAU in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Regional Games’ championship.

FROM LONG RANGE: Elon currently leads the Southern Conference in three-point field goal percentage at 43.7 percent and threes made with 108. Tanner Samson (38) and Sebastian Koch (36) rank first and second in the league in threes made. Samson ranks second in the SoCon in three-point field goal percentage, while Austin Hamilton ranks third and Koch ranks fifth.
KOCH HONORED: Sebastian Koch scored a career-high 27 points at 21st-ranked Colorado on Dec. 13, and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 17. Koch’s nine triples are the most in a single game during Elon’s Division I era. His 27 points mark the most by an Elon player since Jack Isenbarger’s 34-point performance against The Citadel on Feb. 4, 2012.

SAMSON HONORED: Tanner Samson was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 10 after scoring a career-high 23 points in an 87-70 win over VMI on Dec. 3. Samson connected on 5-of-8 from three-point land in the win and was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. He added a career-best nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in 36 minutes against the Keydets.

MILESTONE WATCH: Both Sebastian Koch (899 points) and Ryley Beaumont (869 points) are in line to be the next Elon players to reach 1,000 career points. Elon currently has two players with over 1,000 career points in Lucas Troutman (1,314) and Jack Isenbarger (1,226). Troutman ranks 15th all-time and needs 68 points to pass Thomas Moore (1972-75) for 14th all-time. Isenbarger ranks 20th all-time in scoring and needs nine points to pass former teammate Chris Long for 19th all-time.

BLOCK PARTY: With two blocked shots at Georgetown on Dec. 17, Lucas Troutman extended his program-best career mark to 173 blocks. Troutman set Elon’s all-time blocks record last season and is 12 blocks shy of passing VMI’s Eric Mann (1997-01) for 10th all-time in Southern Conference history.

TRACKING THE THREES: Jack Isenbarger enters Thursday’s game with 224 career three-pointers made, which ranks second all-time in Elon history behind Chris Kiger’s (1994-98) career mark of 259.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Lucas Troutman has scored in double figures in seven of Elon’s last eight games this season and in 36 of the team’s last 42 games. Troutman has scored 20 or more points in eight of those contests.

HOME COOKING: Over the last three years, Elon has a 26-8 record inside the friendly confines of Alumni Gym. Elon has sold out Alumni Gym nine times under head coach Matt Matheny, with its last sellout coming on Nov. 8, 2013, on opening night when the Phoenix topped Washington & Lee.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY: Matt Matheny is in his fifth season as the Elon head men’s basketball coach. The 2013 Southern Conference Coach of the Year by the media, Matheny enters Tuesday’s game with an overall record of 64-74. Matheny was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham Award last season, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.