Elon MBB Phoenix Drops Heartbreaker to UNCW in Overtime

ELON, N.C. – Tyler Seibring notched his fourth double-double of the season for Elon University men’s basketball, but UNCW held on in overtime as the Phoenix dropped a heartbreaker to the Seahawks, 80-78 on Thursday night, Jan. 11, inside Alumni Gym.

BOX SCORE

Seibring scored a game-high 21 points and added a season-high 12 rebounds for Elon (11-7, 3-2 CAA) in the loss. Four Phoenix finished in double figures, as Santa Ana scored 15 points, Brian Dawkins chipped in 12 points and six rebounds, and Dmitri Thompson added 10 of his own. Dainan Swoope finished with a team-high seven assists for Elon.

UNCW (5-12, 2-3 CAA) was led by Davontae Cacok’s double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Jordon Talley also chipped in a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists. Jaylen Fornes scored a team-high 20 points and Ty Taylor added 17 for the Seahawks.

“This is a stinging loss,” said head coach Matt Matheny. “It was a great basketball game in terms of back-and-forth and overtime in front of an energetic and full crowd, and it was a missed opportunity. I thought we started well, and then they had a stretch where they were really knocking down shots and took the lead. We couldn’t cut it as much as we wanted to at halftime. And then I thought we did some really good things. Particularly, we were better defensively in the second half, and we just couldn’t get over the hump in the end.”

The Phoenix limited a high-powered UNCW offense to just 40 percent from the floor in the contest, including 35 percent combined in the second half and overtime. UNCW had a 15-8 edge on the offensive boards and outscored the Phoenix 18-5 on second-chance points.

HIGHLIGHTS
The Phoenix jumped out to a 13-4 advantage to start the contest after Santa Ana hit a three-pointer and scored on a fast break layup in quick succession at the 14:47 mark. UNCW answered with a massive 20-2 run over the next 4:50 to take a 24-15 lead with 9:30 left in the half.

Elon answered with an 11-5 spurt over the next 2:31 to slice UNCW’s lead to 29-26 after Karolis Kundrotas drained a three-pointer, but the Seahawks took a 10-point lead 39-29 with 3:32 left in the opening half. The Phoenix was able to slice UNCW’s lead to seven points at halftime, trailing 46-39 at the break. Santa Ana led the first half charge with 15 points.

The maroon and gold worked the first 10 minutes of the second half, chipping away at UNCW’s lead. After slicing the Seahawks’ lead to three, 57-54, Taylor drained a jumper to give UNCW a 59-54 advantage at 10:58.

Elon answered with an 11-0 run over a 6:47 span, capped off by Seibring’s layup at the 3:53 mark to give Elon a 65-59 lead. In a game full of runs, UNCW put together an 11-2 spurt over the next 2:26 to retake the lead, 70-67, after Cacok’s layup with 1:02 remaining in regulation.

Seibring drained a clutch three-pointer on the next possession to tie the game 70-70 with 43 seconds on the clock, but Cacok made a layup on the next opportunity, giving UNCW a 72-70 lead with 11.7 seconds on the clock. Elon executed its next chance well and Seibring made a layup with three seconds left to knot up the score once again.

UNCW gave the ball back to the Phoenix with 1.9 seconds on the clock after a travel, but Seibring’s game-winning shot attempt hit the right side of the rim, sending the game to overtime.

After two Cacok free throws opened the scoring in overtime, Sheldon Eberhardt made a beautiful up-and-under layup and Swoope made two free throws to give Elon a 76-74 lead with 2:40 on the clock. Fornes’ layup tied the game for the seventh time, but Eberhardt came in the clutch once again with another layup, as Elon retook the lead 78-76 with 1:23 left in the contest.

Talley made two free throws to level the score for the eighth and final time, but after a missed jumper by Eberhardt, Marcus Bryan’s lone basket of the game gave the Seahawks the 80-78 lead.

The Phoenix had a chance to tie the game with three seconds remaining after Cacok missed two free throws. However, after Elon was fouled, the Phoenix couldn’t convert at the free throw line and UNCW was able to corral a rebound on an intentional second miss to secure the overtime victory.

NOTES
– Seibring recorded his seventh-career double-double for the Phoenix, notching 21 points and tying a season-high with 12 rebounds.
– Thompson finished with 10 points for the Phoenix. He has now scored in double-figures in six straight games and in all five CAA contests.
– UNCW had a major advantage on the offensive rebounds 15-8, and outscored the Phoenix 18-5 on second chance points.
– The Seahawks used a 20-2 run during a five-minute span in the first half to turn a 13-4 Elon lead into a 24-15 UNCW lead.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix is back inside Alumni Gym on Saturday, Jan. 13, to face CAA preseason favorite College of Charleston at 7 p.m.