Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 7, 2018, edition 1 / Page 10
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BASKETBALL PREVlEim Ready to defy expectations: Men’s basketball preview Picked to finish eighth in the CAA, Elen is ready to prove people wrong Nick Bisconti, Alex Reynolds & Caitlin Rundle Bon News Network I @elonnewsnetwork Last year, after going 14- 18 (6-12 CAA), Eton Uni versity men’s basketball be gins its first year playing in Schar Center. The Phoenix is predicted to finish eighth in the Colonial Athletic As sociation (CAA) this sea son. Leading up to the season The Phoenix graduated five seniors, one of them being redshirt-senior Brian Dawkins. The other seniors were Dmitri Thompson, Collin Luther, Jack Anton and Jack George. Dawkins was one of Eton’s most effi cient shooters and rebound ers. Thompson has contin ued his basketball career in Lebanon, playing for BC Atlas A1 Ferzol, and Daw kins now plays for GTK Gilwice in Poland. The Phoenix will have to took to fill the holes on offense from Dawkins and Thompson, as well as find new leadership. freshman forward Chuck Hannah keeps the ball away from Randolph College defense in the Phoenix's exhibition game on Oct. 30. #BBV GIBBS I PHOTO EDITOR The team Elon has an experienced team full of returning start ers and a veteran coaching staff poised to make im provements from last sea son. Head coach Matthew Matheny is entering his tenth season as head coach of the Phoenix and fifth in the CAA, Matheny has led the Phoenix to a 140-148 re cord since his time began at Elon, and has guided the team to 14 or more victories in each of the past seven years. Also returning this year to lead the Phoenix is se nior forward Tyler Seibring. Seibring led the team last year up and down the court in defensive rebounds and blocks on the defensive end. On the offensive end of the court, Seibring anchored the middle, leading the team in total points and of fensive rebounds. But what separates Seibring from the traditional forward is his ability to generate offense outside the arc. Alongside Siebring is se nior guard Dainan Swoope. Swoope serves as the direc tor of the offense from the backcourt. Swoope tallied 126 assists and 12 points per game last season. Among the list of fresh men who are most likely to make an impact this season is guard Kris Wooten. In high school, Wooten was named an M'VP in all three seasons he played and was also a career 1,000-pointer. Then there’s forward Chuck Hannah, who was a captain of his high school team his senior year and was involved with two of his high school’s national championship runs, finish ing as runner-up in both, Italian native, forward Federico Poser, played on the Italian U20 men’s na tional team in the Istanbul Tournament in 2018 and was involved in a team that won a national champion ship, where he averaged 16.7 points that season. Looking at the road ahead The Phoenix started the 2018-2019 season with a win against the Manhattan College Jaspers on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The final score of the game was 62-56, The team then plays the first men’s BY THE NUMBERS 1 62-56 was the score of Eton’s fet wm of the 2018-2019 season against the Manhattan College Jaspers. basketball game in Scliar Centers history against ths University of North Caroli. na at Chapel Hill Tar Heels. On Jan. 10, the Phoei nix will host the preseason No. 1 team in the CAA, the Northeastern Univer sity Huskies. The Huskies have not lost much of a step coming into the 2018-2019 season as they are return ing its top players from last year, redshirt-senior point guard Vasa Pusica and ju nior guard Shawn Occeus. Northeastern, next to the College of Charleston, will be Eton’s biggest test in con ference play, and to beat one of them would be critical to Eton’s ranking in the CAA, Whether the Phoenit meet their preseason nuk ing or surpass expectations, it will be a historic fitsl men’s basketball season lo open Schar Center. Elon-UNC Preview: How David might topple Goliath lA/hat hoc +n hontlAn -frxt- 4.1 What has to happen for Elon to pull off an upset to start the season Jack Haley SportsDireotor|@iackhalEyl7 Eton University men’s basket ball kicks off their inaugural sea son in Schar Center this year. To TARHmC ring in the spe- lAK nttLo cial occasion, LAST SEASON Elon brought in The Tar Heels the No. 8 Uni- finished versity of North 26-11 overall Carolina at and ii~7 in i tt-h Atlantic Coast Chapel Hill Tar Conference Heels to break in (ACC) play. the new space. No matter how uneven the game may seem on paper, they play every game for a reason. Scouting the Tar Heels Last year was a down year by the standards of some UNC fans. The Tar Heels finished 26-11 over all and 11 - 7 in Atlantic Coast Con ference (ACC) play. They entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed but bowed out early, losing handily to No. 7 seed Texas A&M University in the second round. The Tar Heels are bringing in a major recruiting class this year. The three freshmen coming in are five-star recruits Nassir Little and Coby White, and four-star recruit Leaky Black. For some perspective, the highest rated Elon player is se nior shooting guard Steven Santa Ana, who was a three-star recruit. The Tar Heels are led by young players, returning only two se niors: forward Luke Maye and guard Kenny Williams. Leading UNCs team is the leg endary head coach Roy W^illiams. Williams, now in his fifteenth season at the helm, has racked up quite the list of accolades, and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down. Williams has led the Tar Heels to three national titles, has gone to six national championship games and has the second most ca reer tournament wins of all-time with 76. How does Elon win this game? It would be a longshot to expect Elon to win, but you can’t count them out from coming out on top. It became a reality last year for the Tar Heels when they welcomed the Wofford University Terriers to the Dean Dome and then lost to them 79-75. Crazy things happen in sports. So how does Elon get it done? It looks like playing down tow is not going to work. Eton does not have the size to compete with the UNC big men. Guys who can generally hold their own in the Colonial Athletic As sociation (CAA) like senior center Karolis Kundrotas, the six-foot, eleven-inch Lithuanian, and se-' nior forward Tyler Seibring, are going to have trouble working in the tow post against the UNC cen ters. Elon is going to be forced to do left to right: Redshirt-sophomore Seth fuller seninrs !l.»iH»n ch i. j. „ . ERicWEBBlsWfPBtB** I walk off the court at the 2018 CAA Touruauient ou March 3 Swoope aud Tyler Seihriug aud sophomore Simon Wrigll what they do during tots of games shoot the three. If Eton can get hot from be hind the three-point line, they are pmg to have a chance. The team IS capable of making threes, and they recruit guys to be able to do so. but they need to be particularly exceptional when they play the Tar Heels. The final thing Elon needs to do to have a prayer of pulling off an upset is to be physical. The big strong, fast UNC players are going to make Eton work and make them pick up the tempo of their play. If the Phoenix really want to win this game, they need to use their possessions to stow down the tempo of the game and not take bad shots. It will probably be pretty tempting in the first half to try and take big shots while they are close with UNC, but that is the quicke" way to dig themselves into a hole. It Elon wants to win this game they are going to need to score They cannot win a defensive battle with the Tar Heels, but they can try and outshoot them. ^ BY THE NUMBERS 4-18 is Elon’s all-time record against University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 100-62 was the final score of the last j between Elon and UNC in 20lt
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Nov. 7, 2018, edition 1
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