ELON, N.C. – The Elon men’s basketball team faces off against the Delaware Blue Hens in its regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
You can listen to the game live on WSML 104.5 FM/1200 AM with Taylor Durham and John Roddey on the Elon IMG Sports Network. Pre-game coverage on WSML inside the Bob Carpenter Center begins at 1:30 p.m. You can watch Delaware’s video broadcast on CAA.TV.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday is the fifth all-time meeting between the Elon Phoenix and Delaware Blue Hens and the fourth time the sides have met since Elon joined the CAA last season. The Phoenix cruised to an 83-56 victory earlier this month on Feb. 4, 2016 inside Alumni Gym. Last year, the Phoenix swept the season series against the Blue Hens in its inagural CAA season. In Alumni Gym on Jan. 24, 2015, Elon defeated Delaware 94-82. The Phoenix narrowly defeated the Blue Hens in the Bob Carpenter Center, with a 83-75 overtime win on Feb. 21, 2015. Both teams have faced each other three times during Elon’s Division I era. The only time the teams met prior to Elon’s Division I era was the first all-time meeting. Elon defeated Delaware 45-22 on Feb. 8, 1934 in the first meeting.
CAA TOURNAMENT SEEDING
After Thursday night’s loss to William & Mary, Elon is locked in to the No. 8 seed for the 2016 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships. Delaware has already secured the No. 10 seed and the Phoenix will face the No. 9 seed Drexel in the first round on Friday, March 4, at 6 p.m. The other seeds will be determined after all of Saturday’s league contests have been played. The 2016 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships will take place March 4-7 inside Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Md.
WINNING SENIOR CLASS
Elon’s senior class of Sam Hershberger, Tony Sabato, Tanner Samson and Wes Brewer tied Elon’s Division I era record for most wins posted by a senior class with their 69th win on Thursday. They have a combined record of 69-56 since their first year with the program in the 2012-13 season. Last year’s 2015 class of Austin Hamilton, Kevin Blake, and Ryan Winters also had a combined total of 69 wins as a class.
LET IT FLY
This season, 35.2 percent (287-of-814) of Elon’s made baskets have come from behind the three point line. The Phoenix is shooting 34.3 percent from deep and are averaging a CAA-best 9.6 triples a game. Elon’s 18 3-pointers against Alabama State on Dec. 16 was the most a Phoenix team has made in a game during the Matheny era. Tanner Samson has a team-high 81 made treys this season, while Dainan Swoope is right behind him with 57 and Seibring has 55 triples. A total of 10 Phoenix has made a bucket from deep this season.
FRESH IMPACT
Elon’s freshmen have made an impact during the 2015-16 season scoring 36.3 percent of Phoenix points this season. 834 of the team’s 2,296 points have been scored by a freshmen, which includes 292 from Tyler Seibring, 275 from Dainan Swoope, Steven Santa Ana has tabbed 216, Karolis Kundrotas has scored 29 and Sheldon Eberhardt has 22.
The three freshmen that have had the most playing time has made an impact for the Phoenix in conference play. Tyler Seibring has averaged 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 16 games. Steven Santa Ana has notched 8.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 10 CAA contests. Dainan Swoope is averaging 7.5 points in conference play.
SHARING THE WEALTH
A total of eight different Elon players have led the team in scoring in 16 CAA games this season. Thompson has been the high scorer in a team-most four conference games. Only Tyler Seibring (3), Luke Eddy (2), Steven Santa Ana (2) and Tanner Samson (3) been the other scoring leaders in more than one CAA game this season.
GOOD START IS KEY
Elon has been most successful this season when winning the tip and leading at the half this season. The Phoenix is 11-2 overall this season when leading at the half. Elon’s loss vs. JMU on, Jan. 23, and against William & Mary on Feb. 25, were the two losses this season when leading at the half.
324 AND COUNTING
The Elon men’s basketball program has made at least one three-point field goal in 324 consecutive games (not including exhibition games). The Phoenix currently averages 9.6 mades three pointers a game this season. 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.
UP NEXT
The Elon Phoenix begins its journey through the 2016 CAA Men’s Basketball Championships on Friday, March 4. Elon will face the No. 9-seeded Drexel Dragons at 6 p.m. inside the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Md. The winner of the 8/9 game will face the No. 1 seed on Saturday at 12 p.m.