Seibring’s Game-Winner Propels Elon MBB to Victory Over Delaware

ELON, N.C. – Tyler Seibring nailed a jumper from the top of the key with 1.6 seconds remaining to lift Elon University men’s basketball to a 57-56 victory over Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association action on Thursday night, Jan. 31, inside Schar Center.

BOX SCORE (PDF) | HIGHLIGHTS

After Elon (8-15, 4-6 CAA) got several key defensive stops in the final two minutes, which included forcing Darian Bryant to miss a jumper for Delaware (14-9, 6-4 CAA) with 19 seconds remaining, the Phoenix called a timeout with 9.2 seconds on the clock. Seibring then got off jumper from the top of the key and drained the bucket to put Elon ahead for good 57-56 with 1.6 seconds to play. The Blue Hens’ deep inbounds pass was knocked away and the Phoenix held on for the victory.

Seibring led Elon with his 10th-career double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, which including four boards on the offensive glass. Kris Wooten was the other Phoenix score in double figures as he tallied a season-high 16 points and added five rebounds. Additionally, Sheldon Eberhardt added seven points off the bench and Chuck Hannah chipped in five for Elon.

Delaware was paced by Eric Carter’s double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. Ryan Allen also scored in double figures will 11, while Ithiel Horton chipped in nine points off the bench.

“We are very excited to get this win,” said head coach Matt Matheny. “What a game. It was very much a slugfest, and these are the kind of games you get when the two teams know each other pretty well. We have a lot of respect for Delaware, we think they are a tough and physical team, we knew it would be a 40-minute game. What a big shot that Tyler [Seibring] hit, but I thought we got some really key stops late in the game to help us put ourselves in a situation where we could have the ball with a chance to win.”

HIGHLIGHTS
After the Blue Hens scored the first basket of the game, the Phoenix used an 11-0 run capped off by Wooten’s jumper at the 14:06 mark to take an 11-2 lead. Delaware answered mounting a 10-3 run, which ended with an 8-0 surge, and the Hens trimmed Elon’s lead to 14-12 after Matt Veretto’s three-pointer at the 11:39 mark.

Wooten’s triple and Eberhardt’s two free throws over the next two minutes gave the Phoenix a 19-12 lead, but two straight layups capped off by Carter’s bucket at 7:20 sliced Elon’s advantage to 19-16.

The Phoenix would then stretch its lead to as much six points with both 6:16 and 4:53 left in the half. Seibring’s pull-up jumper on the fast break put Elon in front 24-16 with just under five remaining. The Blue Hens would continue to fight back and a 6-2 run over the final 2:42 trimmed Elon’s halftime lead to just 31-30.

At the start of the second half, Delaware took its first lead since the first basket of the game at the 17:36 mark and extended it to 37-34 following Carter’s layup 30 seconds later. The Blue Hens would go up by four at 41-37, but Seibring scored five unanswered points and Elon regained the lead 42-41 with 14:32 on the clock.

Although Delaware would retake the lead 43-42, Hannah’s three-pointer and Seibring’s jumper gave Elon a four-point cushion with 9:59 left in the half. Even though Elon would lead by four again with 7:05 to go, Delaware used a 7-0 run over the next 2:47 to take a 54-51 lead.

Wooten’s floater in the paint and Eberhardt’s layup gave the lead right back to Elon at 55-54 with 3:25 on the clock, but Horton’s layup at 2:30 gave the Blue Hens the 56-55 advantage.

Elon came up with several big defensive stops over the next two minutes after not converting on the offensive end, but none were bigger than forcing Bryant to miss a tough fadeaway jumper with 19 seconds remaining. The Phoenix would then call a timeout with 9.2 seconds to play to draw up a play.

Seibring got off a jumper after getting the ball off a screen at the top of the key and drained the basket to put Elon ahead for good 57-56 with 1.6 seconds to play. The Blue Hens’ last attempt on a deep inbounds pass was knocked away and the Phoenix held on for its second straight win.

NOTES
– Tyler Seibring moved into 7th on the program’s all-time scoring list and now has 1,672 career points. He has most points ever by an Elon player during the program’s NCAA Division I era since 1999-00.
– Kris Wooten tallied a new season-high 16 points against Delaware.
– Santa Ana saw his 17-game double-digit scoring streak snapped against Delaware as he scored two against the Blue Hens.
– Seibring increased his career rebound total to 715, which is 20 away from the top-10 in program history.
– Elon snapped a three-game skid against the Blue Hens with the win and improves its record to 8-4 all-time against Delaware.
– The Phoenix held Delaware to just 38.3 percent (23-60) shooting overall and 25 percent (5-20) for the contest. Elon only allowed the Blue Hens to shoot 2-of-11 from three and 34.4 percent from the floor in the second half.
– Elon has now won three of its last four games with its victory over Delaware.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Schar Center on Saturday, Feb. 2, to face off against the Drexel Dragons at 7 p.m.