ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team plays its final road game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 12:30 p.m. when the Phoenix takes on Delaware. The game will be broadcasted on the American Sports Network (ASN). Check local listings for availability in your area.
ELON VS. UD: Saturday marks the third all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Blue Hens. Elon has won the previous two meetings, including a 94-82 decision on Jan. 24 at Alumni Gym. Austin Hamilton scored a career-high 31 points in the win to lead five Phoenix players in double figures. Elon shot 48 percent for the game and registered only eight turnovers. The first meeting between the two schools was Feb. 8, 1934, when Elon claimed a 45-22 win.
BEYOND THE ARC: With six threes at College of Charleston on Feb. 18, Tanner Samson broke Jack Isenbarger’s single-season program record of 82 set in 2012-13. Samson now sits at 88 threes this season, good for first in the CAA (fifth nationally). Samson leads the CAA and ranks third nationally in three-point attempts with 245 – the most in a single season in school history. The previous record for three-point attempts in a season was 238 by Isenbarger in 2012-13. Samson currently sits at 227 career triples, good for fourth in program history. He trails Sebastian Koch (242), Chris Kiger (259) and Isenbarger (264) on the career chart.
5+ THREES IN A GAME: Tanner Samson has made five or more threes in a game six times this season and 10 times overall in his career. Samson made six threes in Elon’s last game on Feb. 18 at CofC. The Elon record for threes in a game is nine by Sebastian Koch. Koch hit nine at 21st-ranked Colorado on Dec. 13, 2013. Samson came one shy of Koch’s mark earlier this season when he hit eight at Northwestern.
AHEAD AT THE HALF: Elon has been in the lead at halftime nine times this season and has won eight of those contests. Conversely, the Phoenix is 3-16 when trailing at intermission.
ELON IN FEBRUARY: Going into Saturday’s game at Delaware, Elon has a 24-23 mark in the month of February under head coach Matt Matheny. Last year, Elon went 7-1 in February.
SENIOR CLASS: Elon’s senior class of Austin Hamilton, Kevin Blake and Ryan Winters have posted a total of 65 wins – the second most by a senior class during Elon’s Division I era. Last year’s senior class of Ryley Beaumont, Jack Isenbarger, Sebastian Koch, Lucas Troutman and Egheosa Edomwonyi finished with 68 wins over four years.
289 AND COUNTING: The Elon men’s basketball program has made at least one three-point field goal in 289 consecutive games. The last time Elon did not make a three in a game was Jan. 30, 2006, at Georgia Southern when the team went 0-of-14 from deep.
FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS: Rookie guard Elijah Bryant is leading all CAA freshmen in scoring at 14.0 points per game. Bryant has been tabbed CAA Rookie of the Week four times this season and garnered player of the week honors once. He has 22 double-digit efforts in 28 games. In CAA games, Bryant is averaging 15.3 points per contest.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Elon has forced at least 12 turnovers in 24 of its 28 games this season. Elon forced a season-high 21 turnovers against Charlotte on Nov. 16. The Phoenix forced 19 turnovers on Jan. 3 at Drexel, the most against a league opponent this season.
40-PERCENT MARK: Elon has an 11-7 record this season when it shoots 40+ percent from the floor. The Phoenix is 0-10 when it shoots below 40 percent.
READY FOR LIFTOFF: When it’s all said and done, the Phoenix will have traveled a total of 17,415 miles on the road this season via flight and bus. Elon’s longest trip was a 5,764-mile round-trip to Cancun, Mexico. The team’s shortest trip was a 44-mile round-trip to the Greensboro Coliseum.
HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY: The 2014-15 season marks the sixth year at Elon for head coach Matt Matheny. Matheny enters Saturday’s game with a career record of 88-99. Matheny was voted by the Southern Conference media as the Coach of the Year in 2012-13 and was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Hugh Durham award, which honors the nation’s top mid-major coach.
ROAD TO BALTIMORE: The 2015 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship is scheduled for March 6-9 in Baltimore, Md., at Royal Farms Arena. Last year, Delaware topped William & Mary, 75-74, in the championship game to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.