Who Won?
The UNCW Seahawks beat the Elon Phoenix 80-78 in overtime on Tuesday night in CAA Hoops action. This was Elon’s first home loss of the season and UNCW’s first away win. Elon’s now 3-2 in conference play. UNCW improves to 2-3 in conference play.
Why?
Jordon Talley found Marcus Bryan for the go-ahead layup with 24 seconds remaining in OT. It was Talley’s 10th assist on the night, a night where he shot 3-17 from the floor. A pair of missed free throws from Elon’s Sheldon Eberhardt and one more UNCW defensive stop gave the Seahawks the win.
GIF that best summarized the game:
Tyler Seibring tried a "baseball pass" to Dmitri Thompson on the final play of the game. It was a fastball and it looked like a strike until it was suddenly intercepted out of nowhere. pic.twitter.com/1yycyeSyCt
— Max Gongaware (@maxgongaware) January 12, 2018
What people will be talking about:
UNCW’s Devontae Cacok is leading the nation in rebounds per game, at more than 13. He grabbed 17 of them tonight, including a couple of big-time plays at the end of regulation to force the game into overtime. UNCW has had a tough season thus far, but a lot of talk about the talent that Coach McGrath has to work with in Wilmington. McGrath said after the game that getting their first road victory of the year might give them some confidence as they get into the middle stretch of CAA Hoops play. Remember, this team returns a couple dude’s from last year’s CAA Championship team.
What people should be talking about:
UNCW and Elon – theoretically – have a couple of the top scoring point guards in the CAA in Jordon Talley and Dainan Swoope. Tonight, they combined to go 4-28 from the field and 1-17 from 3-point range. Jordon tallied 10 assists, including the assist on what became the game-winning basket. Swoope had seven assists of his own, but Elon’s offense became the Tyler Seibring/Sheldon Eberhardt show down the stretch.
Dmitri Thompson converted a vicious, two-handed dunk over Devontae Cacok in the 2nd half. It was fun. He’s Elon’s high-flyer. After Elon big Brian Dawkins fouled out late in regulation, it was Thompson who was given the opportunity to jump center at the beginning of overtime.
Stat of the Game:
It’s gotta be Devontae Cacok’s 17 rebounds. But Tyler Seibring’s 21 points on 8-16 from the floor and 5-9 from three were impressive too. He’s really picked up the scoring in conference play. Adam Smith has more.
Swoope missed a pair of technical free throws in the 2nd half. In a two-point game, that feels important to mention here too.
What’s Next?
Elon stays at home to play College of Charleston on Saturday night. CofC was picked to win the CAA this year according to preseason polls. They’re currently tied with Elon for 2nd place in CAA play, behind a 5-0 William & Mary team. Feels like an important game for Elon to bounce back. UNCW returns to Wilmington to face Northeastern on Saturday night.
8 is Wild
Congrats to Elon forwards Dmitri Thompson and Tyler Seibring, who both reached 1,000 career points on Sunday against Hofstra. Tonight’s game began with a pre-game ceremony to honor both of them.
Elon's out to an early 8-4 lead. Dmitri Thompson and Tyler Seibring have each hit a 3-pointer. Both of those dudes reached 1,000 career points last time out against Hofstra. They were honored in a pre-game ceremony. Here's a great picture of the back of that ceremony. pic.twitter.com/qgc8jSIb2h
— Max Gongaware (@maxgongaware) January 12, 2018
