NEWARK, Del. – Tyler Seibring flirted with a double-double, scoring a team-high 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds, and the Elon University men’s basketball team defeated Delaware 77-59 in its regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 27, inside the Bob Carpenter Center.
In addition to Seibring for Elon (16-15, 7-11 CAA), Dmitri Thompson finished with 16 points and five rebounds and Dainan Swoope scored 10 off the bench. Jack Anton also had a solid game contributing with eight points and seven rebounds.
Marvin King-Davis scored a game-high 20 points to lead Delaware (7-23, 2-16 CAA) and Kory Holden added 16 points and seven assists for the Blue Hens.
Elon is locked in to the No. 8 seed for the 2016 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships in Baltimore. The Phoenix will play in the first round against the No. 9 seed Drexel on Friday, March 4, at 6 p.m. inside the Royal Farms Arena.
HIGHLIGHTS
After Delaware took a 9-8 lead at the 16:54 mark, Elon mounted a 9-0 run to gain a 17-9 advantage capped off by Samson’s three-pointer. After a quick 5-0 run by the Blue Hens made it a three-point game 17-14, the Phoenix responded with a 10-4 surge to take a 27-18 lead after Swoope’s three-pointer at the 9:38 mark.
Elon continued to maintain its lead in a battle over the final minutes. The Phoenix extended its lead to 12 in the final two minutes as Santa Ana drained a triple and Thompson had a layup to give the maroon and gold a 39-27 lead at halftime.
It was a tight back-and-forth affair for the first 9:30 of the second half and Elon held a 54-44 lead after two Kind-Davis free throws for Delaware.
Karolis Kundrotas’ triple ignited an 11-5 run for the Phoenix and Seibring’s third three-pointer of the night gave Elon its largest lead of the contest, 68-49, with 5:13 remaining. Although an 8-2 run by the Blue Hens made it a 13-point game, 70-57, the maroon and gold closed the game with a 7-2 run over the final 2:25 to hold on for the 77-59 victory.
NOTES
– With the win, Wes Brewer, Sam Hershberger, Tony Sabato and Tanner Samon become the winningest senior class in Elon’s Division I era. It was their 70th win as a class.
– Elon’s victory was its eighth road wins of the season. It ties the most road wins in a season in the program’s in Division I Era. Only the 2012-2013 team additionally has eight road wins in a season.
– It’s the second time the program has had a winning road record of 7-6 during Elon’s Division I era. The 2013-14 team also finished 7-6 on the road.
– The Phoenix clinched its third winning regular seasons in the last four seasons. The Phoenix has done so only four times during the program’s Division I Era.
– Elon improves to 5-3 overall in regular season finales and 2-0 in road finales under head coach Matt Matheny. The Phoenix has won five of its last six final regular season games.
UP NEXT
Elon heads up to Baltimore for the 2016 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships. The No. 8-seeded Phoenix faces the No. 9 seed Drexel on Friday, March 4, in the first round at 6 p.m. The action will be video streamed live on CAA.TV.