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Tough conference play in the CAA
Erik Webb
Sports Director
@ErikWebbElon
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Ten teams makeup the league -
but only one can cut down the nets
and punch its ticket to the big dance
once March comes around.
All of Elon’s sports teams compete
in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Founded in 1979, the CAA is com
prised of schools spanning the East
Coast - from Massachusetts to South
Carolina. The Elon Phoenix are the
most recent team to join the league,
switching from the Southern Confer
ence in 2014.
Since joining the CAA, Elon has
made a name for itself, gaining more
recognition each year. The men’s bas
ketball team has been no exception to
that. Returning all five of its starters
from last year’s team and narrowly
losing in the first round of the CAA
Championships to close the season
last year, the Phoenix were picked to
finish third in the league when the
first preseason poll came out.
Like most CAA games, including
the two games this weekend, each
one is a battle and often comes down
to the final minutes or even the final
shot.
Elon came into the weekend 3-1
in conference, facing a University of
North Carolina at Wilmington team
that had been lackluster on the year,
going 4-12 in the first 16 games after
losing most of their star players.
Junior forward Tyler Seibring hit
a layup with three seconds remain
ing to tie the game up and Elon had a
chance to win the game at the buzz
er after UNCW turned the ball over
shortly after gaining possession. Sei
bring missed the game-winner and
the game headed to a duel in over
time. Elon came up justsUQrtQn.Ian..
11, falling to the Seahawks 80-7^.
“Just a great college basketball
game, said UNCW head coach C.B.
McGrath after his team’s victory over
Elon. “That’s what the CAA is about.
It seems like there’s been a lot of good
games so far in the CAA.”
“Close loss, home loss, confer
ence loss - it stings,” head coach Matt
Matheny said after the game. “You
ABBY GIBBS I STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Junior guard Dainan Swoope stares down his defender in the matchup against College of Charles
ton Jan. 13. The Phoenix defeated the Cougars 63-58.
feel like we’re starting to play better
and I feel like we played well. It’s not
like we played any differently, it’s not
that we played really poorly so I feel
like we’re a good team that’s playing
pretty well and then we lost a close
one.”
Coming into Saturday’s match up
against the College of Charleston,
Elon had vengeance in mind. After
winning the CAA last year, the Cou
gars were picked to finish a top the
league in the preseason poll.
It was another exciting CAA fin
ish on Saturday, Jan. 13. Senior guard
Dmitri Thompson hit two foul shots
with less than 10 seconds remaining
to give Elon a three-point lead. On
the final drive, the Cougars took a
shot from the top of the arc to tie the
,game up and give the. fans some extra
minutes of action. The ball seemed to
dip halfway into the hoop but didn’t
fall, giving the Phoenix a much-need
ed 63-58 win over the league favorite.
“We’re climbing the mountain
and it’s not an easy climb,” Matheny
said after the win against Charleston.
“It’s not an easy hill. It’s treacherous
at times and we stumbled Thursday
night. We got a beautiful view on
the climb up the mountain now, but
we’ve got a lot of mountain left to
climb.”
With 12 league games before
the CAA Championships in North
Charleston, South Carolina the first
weekend of March, there are still
many more minutes of basketball to
play against high-ranking players.
Through Jan. 13, the CAA cur
rently holds the national-leading
rebounder in UNCW’s Devontae
Cacok (12.9 per game), the nation’s
second highest scorer in Hofstra
University’s Justin Wright-Foreman
(averaging 25.6 points per game)
and nation’s second-ranked shooter
from behind the arc in the College of
William & Mary’s Connor Burchfield
(51.5 percent).
The next couple, of games will be
crucial for Elon to keep the train on
the tracks in CAA play. The Phoe
nix will head north to Harrisonburg,
Virginia, for its next test - facing the
Dukes of James Madison University
on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. Elon
will then be in the friendly confines
of its home arena on Jan. 20, host
ing current league leader, William &
Mary.
THE
PHOENIX
FOCUS
MEN’S BASKETBALL lAfOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MEN’S TENNIS
RESULTS
2-0
JAN. 13
NORTH CAROLINA A&T/
ELON
7-0
JAN. 13
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN/
ELON
6-1
SCHEDULE
JAN. 20
SOUTH CAROLINA/
DAVIDSON, NC
11A.M.
JAN. 23
WAKEEOREST/
WINSTON-SALEM
7 P.M.
RESULTS
12-7
RESULTS
10-5
JAN. 11 UNCW/ELON
JAN. 13 COLLEGE OE CHARLESTON/
ELON
78-80
63-58
JAN. 12 lAMES MADISON/
HARRISONBURG, VA
JAN. 14 WILLIAMS MARY/
WILLIAMSBURG, VA
67-70
75-81
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
JAN. 18 lAMES MADISON/
HARRISONBURG, VA
JAN. 20 WILLIAMS MARY/
ELON
7 P.M.
JAN. 19 TOWSON/ELON
JAN. 21 DELAWARE/ELON
7 P.M.
1P.M.
7 P.M.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
■■
WOMEN'S TRACK
-
RESULTS
2-0
SCHEDULE
JAN. 13 NORTH CAROLINA A&T/ 7-0
ELON
JAN. 13 NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN/' 7-0
ELON" - ' ■
JAN. 19 VMIKEYDET INVITATIONAL/
LEXINGTON, VA
JAN. 20 VMIKEYDETlNVITATIONAL/
LEXINGTON, VA ■
JAN. 20 - WAKE EOREST INVITATIONAL/
SCHEDULE
JAN. 21 EURMAN/ELON
JAN. 24 DUKE/DURHAM
JAN. 24 MEREDITH COLLEGE/
RALEIGH
1P.M.
3 P.M.
6:30 P.M.
WINSTON-SALEM
JAN. 21 WAKEEOREST INVITATIONAL/
WINSTON-SALEM
SPORTS BRIEFS
Phoenix alum named
to NC Hall of Fame
Current Major League Baseball
Umpire and former Elon University
football quarterback Joe West has been
named to the North Carolina Sports
Hall of Fame.
West, along with 14 other athletes
from around the state will make up
this year’s class. While at Elon, West
passed for 3,373 yards, which cur
rently still stands at ninth all-time
in program history. He helped Elon
capture conference titles in 1971, 1972
and 1973.
West was inducted into the Elon
Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 and is the
longest tenured umpire in the MLB.
Head coach Matheny
teams up with
Coaches vs. Cancer
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, Elon
University men’s basketball head coach
Matt Matheny and other coaches from
around the region took part in a fund
raiser at the Greensboro Subway inside
Wesley Long Hospital.
Matheny, joined by High Point
University’s head coach Scott Cherry,
North Carolina A8cT’s head coach
Jay Joyner, and University of North
Carolina at Greensboro’s head coach
Wes Miller, served as guest sandwich
artists for an hour on Tuesday, launch
ing a special Coaches vs. Cancer fund
raising campaign.
The Coaches vs. Cancer organi
zation is a collaboration between the
American Cancer Society and the
National Association of Basketball
Coaches to promote healthy living and
support the fight against cancer.
Men’s tennis starts
season on high note
It was a cold day at the Jimmy
Powell Tennis Center Saturday, Jan. 13,
but the Elon University men’s tennis
team started the season hot, picking
up two victories against other teams
from the Tar Heel state.
The Phoenix was able to sweep
North Carolina A&T State University
7-0 in the first match before facing Div.
Ill North Carolina Wesleyan College
in the second match. Elon smashed
Weslyan 6-1 in the latter match of the
doubleheader.
The Elon men’s tennis team will
be away from their home courts for
the next six matches, starting with a
matchup against No. 20 University of
South Carolina Jan. 20 at the neutral
site of Davidson University.
Women’s tennis
smashes competition
In spring:opener
Also facing North Carolina A&T
State University and North Carolina
Wesleyan College on Jan. 13 at home,
the Elon University women’s tennis
team started the season perfectly,
defeating both teams 7-0.
Sophomore Sofia Edo and senior
Erica Braschi were the top Phoenix
players, finishing a perfect 2-0 in
both doubles and singles competition.
Elon was strong in doubles play, only
dropping three games across all three
matches.
The women’s team will return
back to the Jimmy Powell Tennis
Center Sunday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. fac
ing Furman, the reigning Southern
Conference champion.