Elon MBB Phoenix Faces Drexel in Philadelphia on Thursday

PHILADELPHIA – Elon University men’s basketball plays its first game of the new year on Thursday, Jan. 3, when it faces Drexel in its first Colonial Athletic Association road contest of the season. The 11th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and the Dragons will tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
You can watch the game live on CAA.TV, which will be produced by Drexel. Listen to the coverage on the Elon IMG Sports Network through TuneIn, elonphoenix.com/live, or on CAA.tv and the CAA.tv app. The Phoenix All-Access and Elon IMG Sports Network coverage will be provided by Taylor Durham and Brian Morris starting with the pregame show 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY’S GAME IS…
• The 11th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the Drexel Dragons.
• The 2,711th game in Elon’s program history.
• The second straight matchup between Elon and Drexel in Philadelphia.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…
• Be the 1,407th win in program history and Elon’s 259th Division I win.
• Be the 146th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.

THE MATCHUP
• Thursday will be the 11th all-time meeting between Elon and Drexel.
• This is the 5th time the two teams have met in the DAC.
• Elon holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series and has won 3 of the last 4 meetings against Drexel.
• Drexel edged Elon 83-79 in the last meeting on Jan. 26, 2018 inside the DAC.
• Elon earned the split last season taking the home contest 93-73 on Dec. 30, 2017.
• The first-ever meeting took place on Nov. 18, 2013 in Piscataway N.J. as part of the NIT Season Tip-off. Drexl won 71-64 as the eighth seed in the preseason tournament.

SCOUTING DREXEL
• Drexel (6-9, 0-2 CAA) dropped both road games in its opening weekend of CAA play with losses at Northeastern and Hofstra.
• The Dragons have lost 4 games in a row heading into Thursday night’s matchup.
• Four players are scoring in double figures for the Dragons, led by Troy Harper’s 15.8 points per game. Alihan Demir is second at 14.3 and leads the team in rebounding at 7.3 per game. Trevor John is averaging 12.1 points per game and is a three-point threat as he’s made a team-high 51 triples this season. Camren Wynter rounds out the scoring at 11.3 points per game.
• Drexel ranks 2nd in the league in scoring offense (79.4 ppg), 2nd in free throw percentage (.770), 3rd in field goal percentage (.480), 2nd in assists (15.3 apg), while also ranking in the top-4 in 3-point field goal percentage, rebounding defense and rebounding margin.
• During non-conference play, the Dragons finished 6-7 overall and picked up wins against Quinnipiac, Loyola (Md.), Robert Morris, Boston University and La Salle. The losses included UConn, Temple, Bowling Green, UMBC, NJIT, Rutgers and Eastern Michigan.

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 5-10 record overall and is 1-1 in CAA action in 2018-19 after earning a 68-65 win over James Madison on Sunday.
• Elon has played nine times at home this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Steven Santa Ana is Elon’s leading scorer and rebounder at 16.6 points and 6.4 boards per game. Tyler Seibring is tallying 15.9 points.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with (10.3) per game, which also ranks 13th in the nation. Elon’s 155 total three-pointers this season ranks 10th nationally.
• Santa Ana is currently 7th in the league in scoring (16.6), while Seibring ranks 10th (15.9).
• The Phoenix is currently making 10.5 three pointers per game this season, which ranks first in the CAA and 12th at the NCAA Division I ranks.
• Elon and gold returns 11 total players and three of its five starters from a year ago. One of its three returning starters, Dainan Swoope, is out for the season after having season-ending foot surgery.
• The Phoenix returns four of its top six scorers, including its 2017-18 leading scorer and rebounder in Seibring (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg).
• The program’s senior class is made up of five players (Seibring, Swoope, Santa Ana, Eberhardt and Karolis Kundrotas). Heading into the season, the five players had combined to play in a total of 437 games and make 209 starts.
• Elon made four new additions to the squad for 2018-19 in first-year players Chuck Hannah, Andy Pack, Federico Poser and Kris Wooten.
• The Phoenix has been predicted to finish eighth in the league as the CAA released its preseason men’s basketball poll on Oct. 17, during the conference’s digital media day. Tyler Seibring collected preseason All-CAA honors as he was named to the second team.

WOOTEN TABBED CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Wooten averaged 11.5 points while shooting 60 percent from the floor (9-15) and 55.6 percent from three-point range (5-9) as Elon split a pair of road games Nov. 18-22 during the final week of the Phoenix’s non-conference slate.
• He is Elon’s first player to earn a weekly accolade from the conference this season. He is also Elon’s first CAA Rookie of the Week selection since Tyler Seibring earned the honor for the third time his freshman campaign on Jan. 18, 2016.

NEARING ELON HISTORY
• Senior forward Tyler Seibring is closing in on history that no player in program history at the NCAA Division I level has ever done.
• He is 74 points (Career Total: 1,505) and 71 rebounds (Career Total: 664) away from entering the top-10 in program history for each category.
• Seibring would be the first player in Elon’s NCAA Division I era (since 1999) to achieve that feat.

SEIBRING NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
• Tyler Seibring has been named one of the 30 NCAA Division men’s basketball candidates for the 2018-18 Senior CLASS Award®
• The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• Seibring carries a 3.91 grade-point average as a double major in English and Economics.
• The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four® this spring.

JOINING THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Senior guard Steven Santa Ana became the 43rd player in program history to reach 1,000-career points against Central Penn on Nov. 27.
• Elon currently has three 1,000-point scorers on the team in Tyler Seibring, Dainan Swoope and Steven Santa Ana. Swoope and Seibring each joined the 1,000-point club as juniors.
• Seibring was the first to join, becoming the 40th player overall and the 11th junior to reach the mark. Dainan Swoope became the 42nd player overall, the 12th junior.

RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCES
• The Phoenix have twice set a program record with 19 three-pointers made in a game this season.
• Elon set the record of 19 triples in its 98-71 victory over Milligan College on Nov. 15, 2018, the program’s first-ever win in Schar Center.
• The team then matched the mark on Nov. 27, 2018 inside Schar Center during its 92-59 win over Central Penn.

SCHAR CENTER
• Elon University men’s basketball will play its games inside its new facility, Schar Center, this season after calling Alumni Gym its home since since 1950.
• Schar Center officially opened its doors in July of 2018 and was dedicated on October, 19, 2018. The 161,000-square-foot convocation center has a current capacity of 5,100-seats.
• Not only does it serve as the home for Phoenix basketball and volleyball programs, but it also serves as an event venue that will provide a large gathering space for a wide variety of major campus events such as convocations and concerts.
• The facility is named for Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla., parents of Stuart Schar ’16 and Spencer Schar ’19.
• Among Elon’s most generous donors for the project, the Schars have contributed $13 million to the university to provide lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications facilities, which features Dwight C. Schar Hall as the centerpiece.

HOW 2018-19 BEGAN
• Elon’s 110th season of basketball opened with a marquee matchup as the Phoenix hosted the No. 8-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on ESPNU in the program’s first regular season basketball game inside Schar Center on Friday, Nov. 9.
• Prior to that contest, the Phoenix opened the 2018-19 season on Nov. 6 on the road at Manhattan. Elon then competed in the Tiger Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 22-24, at Pacific University on Thanksgiving week.
• During its non-conference slate, the Phoenix scheduled a total of seven home contests, which have included North Carolina, Boston University, No. 25 Furman, UNCG and Canisius. The Phoenix then concluded non-conference action on the road at Kennesaw State and UMKC.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix concludes its first road swing of conference play on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Delaware. That game will tip-off at 7 p.m. on CAA.tv.