Elon MBB Phoenix to Battle Charleston on Thursday Night

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Coming off its thrilling victory at William & Mary on Saturday, Elon University men’s basketball looks to continue its momentum in Colonial Athletic Association action Thursday night, Jan. 24, on the road at reigning league champion College of Charleston. The game between the Phoenix and the Cougars will tip-off at 7 p.m. inside TD Arena.

GAME NOTES (PDF) | PREVIEW

COVERAGE
Watch the game live on CAA.tv, or you can 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 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 27th meeting all-time between the Elon Phoenix and the William & Mary Tribe.
• The 2,719th game in Elon’s program history.

AN ELON WIN WOULD…

• Be the 1,408th win in program history and Elon’s 259th Division I win.
• Be the 147th win for Elon head men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny.

THE MATCHUP
• Thursday will be the 27th all-time meeting between Elon and College of Charleston and the first time the two have met this season.
• The Cougars lead the all-time series 19-7 overall and have a 9-2 advantage in Charleston. CofC has won four of the last five against Elon.
• Elon and College of Charleston split the season series in 2017-18. CofC won the most recent matchup with a 79-58 victory at TD Arena on Feb. 22, 2018 to clinch the CAA regular season title. Prior to that matchup, Elon snapped a three-game losing streak against the Cougars with a 63-58 win on Jan. 13, 2018 in Alumni Gym.
• The Cougars swept the season series in 2016-17, earning a 66-54 win in Alumni Gym on Dec. 31, 2016 and defeating the Phoenix 71-58 at TD Arena on Feb. 4, 2017.
• Both teams were Southern Conference rivals from 2003-2013.
• Elon’s last win against the Cougars in Charleston, S.C. was when Dainan Swoope hit a game-winning triple for the 65-64 win on Jan. 16, 2016 inside TD Arena.

SCOUTING COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
• College of Charleston (14-6, 3-4 CAA) has lost two straight heading into Thursday’s game after falling at Northeastern (69-60) on Jan. 17 and at Hofstra (86-72) on Jan. 19.
• Grant Riller, a 2017-18 All-CAA First Team honoree, is tallying a team-best 21.8 points per game this season and leads the team with 84 assists (4.2 apg). Jarrell Brantley, a three-time All-CAA honoree, is averaging 19.0 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game. Riller and Brantley are currently the fifth-highest teammate duo in NCAA Division I at 40.9 points per game.
• Brevin Galloway is currently 3rd on the team in scoring with 8.9 points per contest, but has made a team-high 35 triples this season.
• This season, College of Charleston is the most stout defensively in the CAA giving up a league-low 67.9 points per contest. The Cougars are also first in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense, locking down teams to just 31.8 percent shooting from behind the arc. Charleston also ranks second in steals (6.7 spg).
• The Cougars dropped to No. 23 in this week’s College Insider Mid-Major Poll after being ranked No. 14 last week. Other teams represented in the poll from the CAA are No. 5 Hofstra as well as Northeastern, who is currently receiving votes.
• College of Charleston got off to its best 15-game start to a season since 2003-04 with a 13-2 record with only losses to LSU and Oklahoma State in non-conference action.
• Charleston had a 22-game home winning streak snapped on Jan. 10 with a 79-78 loss to Drexel. The home-winning streak was tied for the 3rd-longest in program history.
• During non-conference action, the Cougars earned some quality wins against Rhode Island, UAB, Memphis, VCU, Coastal Carolina and Siena. In addition to its losses to LSU and Oklahoma State, Charleston has dropped games against James Madison, Drexel, Northeastern and Hofstra in CAA action.

ABOUT ELON
• The Phoenix has a 6-14 record overall and is 2-5 in CAA action in 2018-19 following its thrilling 76-71 comeback win at William & Mary on Saturday, Jan. 19.
• The maroon and gold has played 11 times at home inside its brand-new Schar Center this season, including seven times in non-conference games.
• Elon has two players scoring in double figures. Tyler Seibring is Elon’s leading scorer at 16.8 points and is also grabbing 5.1 boards per game. Steven Santa Anais second on the team in scoring as he is tallying 16.4 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game.
• The Phoenix ranks first in the CAA in three-pointers made with 10.0 per game, which also ranks 21st in the nation. Elon’s 199 total three-pointers this season ranks 11th nationally.
• Seibring is currently 6th in the CAA in scoring (16.8), while Santa Ana ranks 8th (16.4) in the league. Santa Ana’s 6.4 rebounds ranks 11th in the CAA.
• Sheldon Eberhardt leads the team with 67 total assists, which is an average of 3.7 per contest and ranks 6th in the CAA. He is also the team’s third-leading scorer with 10.3 points per game and has the second-highest free throw shooting percentage (.829) on the team.
• 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 year 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.

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 now in the top-10 in scoring after tallying 26 against William & Mary on Saturday and has 1,602 career points. He is and 43 rebounds (Career Total: 692) away from entering the top-10 in program history for rebounding.
• Seibring would be the first player in Elon’s NCAA Division I era (since 1999) to achieve that feat.

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.

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 wraps up the week closing its three-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 26, with a matchup against Seahawks. The game between Elon and UNCW will tip-off at 4 p.m. inside Trask Coliseum.