Elon MBB Faces Delaware in First Round of CAA Championships on Saturday

ELON, N.C. – No. 10 seed Elon University men’s basketball opens the 2018 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships on Saturday, March 3, with its first round matchup against No. 7 seed Delaware at 6:30 p.m. inside North Charleston Coliseum.

GAME NOTES

COVERAGE
Watch the game through CAA.TV as Jeff McCarragher and Mack McCarthy will have the call from North Charleston Coliseum. 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 p.m.

THE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 10th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and the Blue Hens and the first time the two teams have met in the CAA Men’s Basketball Championships. Elon leads the all-time series 7-2, but Delaware won the most recent contest in Newark 72-57 on Feb. 17. The teams split the regular season series as Elon claimed the 89-76 win on Feb. 3 inside Alumni Gym.
• Both Elon and Delaware have split in the regular season for the past two seasons.
• Prior to last season, Elon had won the first five consecutive meetings. Both teams have faced each other five times during Elon’s Division I era since 1999. The only time the teams met prior to Elon’s Division I era was the first all-time meeting.
• Elon’s first-ever matchup against Blue Hens came on Feb. 8, 1934 as Elon College defeated Delaware 45-23 in Newark.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• Since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1999-00, Elon has a 13-16 overall record in conference tournaments.Under head coach Matt Matheny, Elon is 5-8 in tournament play.
• Last season, Elon was the No. 5 seed and fell to the No. 4 seed William & Mary, 71-66, in the quarterfinals of the 2017 CAA Championships. Since joining the CAA in 2014-15, the Phoenix is 1-3 in conference tournament games. Elon’s lone win was in the first round of the 2015 CAA Championships as the Phoenix defeated Towson 74-69 on March 6, 2015.
• In eight conference tournament appearances under Matheny, Elon has at least won one game in five of its eight appearances.
• Elon’s lone trip to a conference championship game during the school’s Division I era was in 2008 when the Phoenix dropped a 65-49 decision to Stephen Curry and 23rd-ranked Davidson.
• This year marks the second time at the Division I level that Elon has been a No. 10 seed in a conference tournament. The last time Elon was a No. 10 seed was in the 2007 Southern Conference Championships.
• This season is Elon’s 16th conference tournament at the Division I level. The Phoenix was not eligible to compete in the Big South Conference Tournament until the 2001-02 season.

SEIBRING HONORED
• Tyler Seibring came away with two postseason honors from the CAA for the 2017-18 season.
• For his play on the court, Seibring earned his second-consecutive All-CAA Second Team honor. Seibring averaged 18.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in league games, which rank 8th and 6th in the CAA, respectively. He also finished 2nd in the CAA with 52-made three-pointers in league games this season
• Seibring became the program’s first recipient of the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award, which is presented annually to the men’s basketball student-athlete who “embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his academic athletic achievement.”
• He maintains a 3.95 GPA while double-majoring in English and Econmics and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.
• Earlier this year, he was one of two CAA players to be selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team. The junior forward has been involved with a number of volunteer projects, including completing Undergraduate Research Project titled “An Analysis of Prominent Native American Author Sherman Alexie and how his Parents Shaped his Writing, “It Takes a Village” project, and working in the Elon University Writing Center as a Writing Consultant.

A LOOK AT ELON
• The Phoenix completed the regular season with a 14-17 record overall and a 6-12 mark in CAA play. Elon finished the regular season losing six straight and has the No. 10 seed in the 2018 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships.
• Tyler Seibring was recognized by the CAA with postseason accolades. He was selected as the 2017-18 Dean Ehlers Leadership Award winner and earned All-CAA Second Team honors for the second straight season.
• Elon has three 1,000-point scorers on its roster. Tyler Seibring and Dmitri Thompson each scored their 1,000th point on Jan. 7 in a win at Hofstra, while Swoope became the 42nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points on Feb. 3 against Delaware.
• Despite its late-season struggles, Elon ranked in the top-3 in the league for several catergories.
• Offensively, the Phoenix ranked 2nd in the CAA averaging 10.5 made three-pointers and 15.7 assists per contest.
• On the defensive end, Elon is allowing teams to shoot 43.4% from the floor which ranks 3rd overall in the CAA. Elon is also 1st in the league in defensive rebounds, averaging 27.6 per game.
• Elon’s 44.8% field goal percentage defense in CAA games ranks first in the league.
• Tyler Seibring is currently Elon’s leading scorer and rebounder averaging 15.5 ppg and 6.7 rpg. He ranks 3rd in the league with a 43.8% 3-point field goal percentage. He has bettered his numbers during league play averaging 18.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and ranks 2nd with 54 made threes.
• Elon has others ranks among the top of the league in statistical categories. Dainan Swoope is 4th in the CAA in assists (3.8 apg) and free throw shooting percentage (.824). Sheldon Eberhardt has the 5th-best assist/turnover ratio in the CAA with a 2.0 ratio with 79 assists to just 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.
• Brian Dawkins, Dmitri 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.

IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE
• Four of Elon’s starters are averaging doubles figures through 31 games this season. Seibring leads the way with 15.5 ppg, while Dawkins is second averaging 12.5 ppg.
• Rounding out the top five scorers are Dainan Swoope (12.4), and Dmitri Thompson (11.8 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 24 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, Tyler Seibring and Dainan Swoope have each joined the 1,000-point club this season. Thompson and Seibring joined on Sunday, Jan. 7, at Hofstra. Swoope did 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 958 career points and needs 42 to join the club.

SWOOPE THERE IT IS
• Dainan Swoope has shown improvement on the scoring end his junior campaign, averaging 12.4 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 5.2 points and is 2nd on the team with 2.6 assists per contest. He also has one of the highest shooting percentages on the team at 48.1%.

LET IT FLY
• The Phoenix is 2nd in the CAA and 13th in the NCAA with 10.5 three-pointers made per game.
• Elon’s 327 total three-pointers this season ranks 1st in the CAA and 8th at the NCAA Division I ranks.
• The maroon and gold also ranks first in the league with 930 three-point attempts, which ranks 5th nationally.

388 AND COUNTING
• The Elon program has made at least one three-point field goal in 388 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.

SCOUTING DELAWARE
• Delaware is the No. 7 seed in the 2018 CAA Championships after finishing 13-18 overall and 6-12 in CAA action this season. The Blue Hens closed out the regular season winning two of its last three games, which included a 72-57 win over Elon on Feb. 17, 2018 in Newark.
• The Blue Hens are 6-4 in CAA Tournament First Round games, including last year’s 81-76 win over Hofstra.
• Ryan Daly has reached double figures in 24 consecutive games, and has reached double digits in 48 of the last 51 contests. He currently ranks 38th in UD history with 954 career points.
• Ryan Allen has reached double figures in 24 of the last 26 games, including 15 straight. His 83 three-pointers are fifth most in a UD single season, and three shy of the school mark of 86 held by John Gordon in 1998-99.
• Allen is one of three Division I freshmen with 80 three-pointers made and a 15.0 scoring average.
• Eric Carter ranks third in the CAA with 11 double-doubles this season, including six in the last nine games. Carter currently ranks 35th in Blue Hen history with 492 career rebounds.

UP NEXT
With a victory over Delaware, the Phoenix would advance to the quarterfinals of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championships and face CAA Regular Season Co-Champion Northeastern on Sunday, March 4, at 6 p.m.