Seibring, Thompson Reach 1,000-career points; Elon MBB Tops Hofstra 89-76

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Tyler Seibring and Dmitri Thompson reached 1,000-career points, leading Elon University men’s basketball to an 89-76 victory at Hofstra on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 7, inside David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

BOX SCORE

Seibring became the 40th player overall and the 11th junior in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark with his game-high 22 points against the Pride. Thompson followed, becoming the 41st player to reach the 1,000-point total with 18 points for the Phoenix.

Elon (11-6, 3-1 CAA) had five players finish in double figures. In addition to Seibring and Thompson, Brian Dawkins added 18 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Phoenix. Rounding out the double-digit efforts were Dainan Swoope and Steven Santa Ana as they each scored 10 points apiece.

The Phoenix was strong on both ends of the court, shooting 50.8 percent (31-61) from the floor on the offensive side, while also limiting the Pride to just a 35.4 percent (28-79) clip on the defensive end. Elon also held a 31-26 advantage on the defensive boards and had 19 assists on 31 baskets.

“We were happy to get off to a great start, and I thought our guys played our system for 40 minutes maybe as well as we’ve played all year,” said head coach Matt Matheny. “I’m very pleased with the amount of production we got from a lot of guys, I think it was probably our best bench production in a while, and not only did we get off to a great start but I thought we started the second half very well. This was a very good victory today and we are an improving team.”

Hofstra (9-6, 2-2 CAA) was paced by the play of Justin Wright-Foreman, who poured in 39 points for the Pride and also eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark against the Phoenix. Wright-Foreman also grabbed five rebounds and added a team-high six assists. Eli Pemberton also scored in double figures, adding 19 points. Rokas Gustys set a new David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex record, grabbing 23 rebounds for Hofstra.

HIGHLIGHTS
The Phoenix opened the game with a 9-0 run in nearly the first three minutes, capped off by Thompson’s layup at the 17:17 mark in the first half. After the Phoenix took a 12-5 lead, Hofstra went on 9-3 run to tie the game up, 15-15, and would proceed to knot up the score again, 17-17, with 10:14 remaining in the first half after Jalen Ray’s jumper.

Swoope and Seibring put together six unanswered points over the next two minutes to push the Phoenix ahead 23-17 with 7:52 on the clock after a Seibring layup, but Hofstra battled back to take its first lead of the game 27-26 at the 3:45 mark after a Gustys layup. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, but Thompson banked a three-pointer with three seconds left in the half to give the Phoenix a 36-33 lead at the break.

Dawkins got the second half started for the Phoenix scoring the team’s first eight points. Elon began with a layup by Dawkins, but Hofstra scored four unanswered to cut Elon’s lead to 38-37 with 18:35 remaining. The Phoenix began its second-half surge when Dawkins hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push Elon’s lead to 46-37 at the 17:28 mark, forcing the Pride to call a 30-second timeout.

Santa Ana’s three-pointer at the 15:48 mark put the Phoenix up by 11, 54-43, but Hofstra answered with five answered from Wright-Foreman to slice Elon’s lead to six, 54-48, with 14:15 to go in the contest. An 8-2 Phoenix run, which included Thompson’s fast break slam with 12:46 on the clock, pushed Elon’s lead to 64-50 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Hofstra cut Elon’s lead to 8 points after Wright-Foreman’s three-point play sliced the maroon and gold’s lead to 64-56 with 11:06 to go. The Phoenix would answer with a massive 20-4 surge over the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the contest, 84-60, with 6:22 left in the game.

After the Phoenix took its second 24-point lead of the game, 86-62, with 6:03 remaining, the Pride closed out the final six minutes with a 14-3 run, but Elon played well defensively down the stretch to earn the 89-76 win.

NOTES
– Tyler Seibring reached the 1,000-career point mark at the 10:12 mark in the second half with a three-pointer. He’s the 40th player overall and the 11th junior in program history to reach 1,000-career points.
– Dmitri Thompson got to the 1,000-point mark with a three-pointer with 8:50 left in the contest. He is the 41st player in program history to achieve the feat.
– Three total players on the floor reached 1,000-career points. In addition to Seibring and Thompson, Justin Wright-Foreman also eclipsed the mark after scoring nine of his 39 points.
– Elon’s 13 three-pointers against the Pride tied a David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex record, tying Charlotte and Northeastern for the total. Northeastern was the previous team to reach the mark on Jan. 21, 2017.
– The Phoenix is off to its best conference start of 3-1 as a member of the CAA. This is Elon’s first 3-1 start to conference play since starting with the same record in SoCon play in 2013-14.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Alumni Gym on Thursday night, Jan. 11, to face the UNCW Seahawks at 7 p.m.