ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s basketball plays inside Alumni Gym for the last time on Monday, Feb. 26, facing James Madison in its regular season finale. The ninth all-time meeting between the Phoenix and the Dukes will tip off at 7 p.m.
COVERAGE
Watch the Phoenix in action against the Huskies on Phoenix All-Access. You can listen to the Elon IMG Sports Network broadcast of the game on WSJS 104.5 FM and 1200 AM as Taylor Durham and Brian Morris will call the action with the pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m.
FREE PIZZA FEBRUARY
Every men’s and women’s basketball home game in Alumni Gym this month is part of Free Pizza February! Get to the game early as Pizza will be provided to all Elon University students attending the games.
FINAL SEASON OF ALUMNI GYM
• The 2017-18 season marks the 68th and final year of competition inside historic Alumni Gym as the program is set to relocate to the Schar Center for the 2018-19 campaign. The arena opened its doors in 1950.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• Elon has a 8-4 record overall record at home and has four sellouts this year in its final season inside Alumni Gym.
• Since the 2011-12 season, Elon has a 67-32 record (31-8 vs. non-conference teams) inside Alumni Gym. Elon has sold out Alumni Gym 22 times under head coach Matt Matheny, with its most recent sellout coming on Jan. 11, 2018. Matheny is 15-9 all-time in front of sellout crowds in Alumni Gym.
THE SERIES
• Monday marks the 9th all-time meeting between Elon and James Madison. The last seven meetings have occurred since the Phoenix joined the CAA in 2014-15. James Madison leads the series 6-2. JMU came back from a 10-point deficit to defeat Elon 84-74 in overtime at the Convocation Center on Jan. 18.
• Both Elon and James Madison split the season series in 2016-17 with the home team winning each contest. The Dukes claimed a
60-59 win on Jan. 14, 2017 at the Convocation Center and Elon won the matchup in Alumni Gym 67-61 on Feb. 2, 2017.
• The Phoenix claimed each of its first two wins against the Dukes in the all-time series in the last two seasons. Elon and James
Madison met for the first time on Nov. 29, 1975 as JMU claimed the 108-94 victory.
A LOOK AT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 14-16 record overall and owns a 6-11 mark in CAA play after dropping its fifth straight contest against Northeastern 81-59 on Saturday, Feb. 24, inside Alumni Gym. Elon is currently 7th in the CAA Standings. With a win against JMU, Elon will finish 7th and a loss would drop the Phoenix to 10th in the league standings.
• Elon honored its five-member senior class of Jack Anton, Brian Dawkins, Jack George, Collin Luther and Dmitri Thompson on Saturday.
• Tyler Seibring was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 5 and has been solid in his first 14 conference games, averaging 18.6 points and 7.5 rebounds. He is also shooting 50% from the floor and 46.1% from deep.
• Seibring and Thompson each scored their 1,000th career point on Jan. 7 in a win at Hofstra. Swoope became the 42nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points on Feb. 3 against Delaware.
• Offensively, Elon ranks 2nd in the CAA averaging 10.5 made three-pointers. Elon also is 3rd in the league averaging with 15.6 assists per contest.
• The Phoenix is allowing teams to shoot 43.3% from the floor which ranks 3rd overall in the CAA. Elon’s 44.4% field goal percentage defense in CAA games ranks tied for 1st in the league with Charleston. Elon is also 1st in the league in defensive rebounds, averaging 27.8 per game.
• Tyler Seibring is currently Elon’s leading scorer at 15.5 ppg. Seibring is also 10th in the league averaging a team-best 6.6 rpg and is 3rd in the CAA with a 44.6% 3-point field goal percentage. Dainan Swoope is 4th in the CAA with 3.8 apg.
• Eberhardt has the 5th-best assist/turnover ratio in the CAA with a 2.0 ratio with 79 assists to 39 turnovers.
• Elon completed its non-conference schedule with eight or more wins for the 4th straight year.
• The Phoenix returned all five starters and its top five scorers from a team that finished 18-14 overall and placed tied for fourth in the CAA with a 10-8 mark in 2016-17.
• Four of the five starters averaged double-figure scoring last season, led by 2016-17 All-CAA Second Team forward Tyler Seibring, who averaged a team-high 14.4 ppg.
• Dawkins, Thompson, Jack Anton, Jack George and Collin Luther make up this year’s senior class.
• Elon also made three additions in freshman guard Nathan Priddy and forwards Simon Wright and Duje Radja.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
• The Phoenix is currently in 7th and James Madison is in 10th heading into Monday’s matchup.
• A victory will secure Elon a spot in the No. 7 vs. No. 10 matchup. If the Phoenix suffers a loss, they would play in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup.
• Elon can either finish in 7th or 9th after Monday’s contest.
CAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tyler Seibring was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 5 after averaging 26.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in Elon’s 1-1 week. The Normal, Ill. native shot 67.9% (19-28) from the floor, 88.9% (8-9) from 3-point range and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Seibring shared the weekly honor with Joe Chealey of College of Charleston.
IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE
• Four of Elon’s starters are averaging doubles figures through 30 games this season. Seibring leads the way with 15.5 ppg, while Swoope is second averaging 12.5 ppg.
• Rounding out the top five scorers are Brian Dawkins (12.0), and Dmitri Thompson (11.6 ppg).
• Elon has had 7 different players finish in double figures this season and 6 have led their team in scoring during games.
• The Phoenix has had at least three players finish in double-figures in 23 games this season. The only 7 times this season that the Phoenix has had less in a game was two against Radford (11/22), at UNCG (12/7), at Northeastern (1/5) and at UNCW (2/15) and one at Canisius (12/17), vs. Hofstra (2/8), and at Delaware.
JOINING THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Dmitri Thompson and Tyler Seibring each joined the 1,000-point club on Sunday, Jan. 7, at Hofstra. Dainan Swoope is the 3rd player this season to join the club after doing so on Feb. 3 against Delaware.
• Seibring was the first to join, becoming the 40th player overall and the 11th junior to reach the mark.
• Thompson followed becoming the 41st player in 109 seasons of Elon basketball to reach 1,000 career points.
• Dainan Swoope became the 42nd player overall, the 12th junior, and third player this season to join the club.
• Brian Dawkins is the next closest with 933 career points and needs 67 to join the club.
COMING UP BIG IN LEAGUE PLAY
• After averaging 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds during non-conference play, Tyler Seibring has increased his averages to 18.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in league games, which rank 8th and 6th in the CAA, respectively.
• Seibring is 3rd in the CAA with 51-made three-pointers and is 3rd the league in three-point field goal percentage (46.8%) in CAA contests.
SWOOPE THERE IT IS
• Dainan Swoope has shown improvement on the scoring end his junior campaign, averaging 12.5 ppg this season in comparison to his 11.7 ppg last season. Swoope has scored in double figures 20 times thus far and has a team-high 8 games of 20+ points.
• Swoope is also 4th in the CAA in assists averaging 3.8 dimes per game this season.
• The junior finished the non-conference portion of the schedule averaging 14.7 ppg and shot 85.1% from the free throw line.
• Before suffering an ankle injury in the second half at UNCG, Swoope was averaging 17.1 ppg in the first nine contests.
• He had 20+ points in four straight games from Nov. 17-22 and averaged 23.8 ppg during that span.
PROVIDING A SPARK
• Sheldon Eberhardt has made an impact off the bench, scoring in double-figures four times this season for the Phoenix. The last time he scored in double figures was when he chipped in 13 points on Jan. 25 at Drexel.
• He posted a career-high 10 assists in Elon’s victory over Saint Peter’s, which was the first time an Elon player had 10 or more assists in a game since Chris Long had 10 on Feb. 19, 2011 against UNCG.
• Eberhardt is currently averaging 5.3 points and is 2nd on the team with 2.9 assists per contest. He also has one of the highest shooting percentages on the team at 47.7%.
LET IT FLY
• The Phoenix is 2nd in the CAA and 15th in the NCAA with 10.5 three-pointers made per game.
• Elon’s 315 total three-pointers this season ranks 1st in the CAA and 11th in the NCAA.
• The maroon and gold also ranks first in the league with 900 three-point attempts, which ranks 5th nationally.
387 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 387 consecutive games (not including exhibition games). The matchup on Feb. 4, 2017 at College of Charleston marked the 350th consective game.
• 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.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix heads to North Charleston, S.C. on Saturday to play in the first round of the 2018 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships inside North Charleston Coliseum. Elon will await the result on Monday night’s contest to find out which game they will play in the first round.