Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Drexel
Jan 20, 2017 9:27:53 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2017 9:27:53 GMT -5
This was the most complete game we've had this year. On a night when no one was "on fire", the team all gutted it out and were rewarded an awesome "blue collar" win. If we can have consistent efforts like this the remainder of the season, we will most certainly finish in the top half of the conference.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Drexel
Jan 20, 2017 9:31:15 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2017 9:31:15 GMT -5
FYI:
By Adam Smith Times-News
ELON — The first postgame words out of coach Matt Matheny’s mouth went right to the totality of what Elon put forth Thursday night.
“Could be one of our better 40-minute performances,” he said. “In a lot of ways I think it is.”
Drexel certainly wasn’t inclined to argue after Elon delivered consistently and dominantly at times during a 93-73 rout in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix had its offense flowing with balance and connectivity in winning for the third time in four games. It was a high-scoring rhythm that didn’t require Elon, the league’s most prolific 3-point-shooting team, to go ballistic from long range.
Tyler Seibring, the sophomore forward, supplied his comprehensive best with a career-high 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while guard Steven Santa Ana pumped in 22 points and guard Dainan Swoope scored 16 points.
Elon’s starting unit produced all except five points of its total output — the second time in eight nights that the Phoenix has surpassed the 90-point mark — as Brian Dawkins added 13 points and six rebounds and Dmitri Thompson chipped in 12 points.
“I think what it showed and what we continue to show is that we have balance,” Seibring said. “Not only is it a balance of different people, but I think it showed the balance we have in the game now, that these different people can score from different places. I think that’s what we’re trying to do to be successful in conference, because we’re not going to make those 3s every day.”
Or as Matheny simply put it, “I think we’re getting some good stuff.”
Elon (11-9 overall, 3-4 CAA) never trailed and led by double figures throughout the second half, a cushion that reached its widest at 56-35 with the half 5½ minutes old, when Santa Ana nailed his first of three 3-pointers.
Drexel (7-12, 1-5) couldn’t keep up in suffering its sixth loss in the last seven games. The Phoenix launched 11-2 runs to open both halves and create immediate separation.
Dawkins said Thompson’s high-energy start that included a racing fastbreak dunk, fueled by Swoope’s steal, and a high-wire offensive rebound and stick-back established an assertive tone on the game’s first two buckets.
“I think that was a really big boost for us,” Dawkins said. “We talk about that as being important, starting the game off well, trying to win that ‘first round.’ Those first three or four minutes are big, building momentum for the rest of the half. We really focused on that and I think it showed.”
Dawkins drilled a 3 in the last minute of the first half to move the Phoenix ahead 42-32 at halftime. Elon sank 10 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc for the game, right on its CAA-leading average. More Video: North Carolina coach Roy Williams after Saturday's 96-83 victory against Fl…
The burst out of the gate in the second half surged Elon in front by 19 with still more than 16½ minutes remaining, a run that contained perhaps the craftiest maneuver of the night from the 6-foot-8 Seibring.
He worked a clear-out against Drexel forward Rodney Williams, backing in on one of this league’s best post players before breaking off an up-and-under move that schooled Williams, who fouled Seibring in the process. That became a three-point play.
“He’s exactly what we want in our system,” Matheny said of Seibring. “He fits so well with his ability to pass and shoot.”
That moment also served to encapsulate some of what was lacking for the Dragons, who weren’t able to exploit their potential advantage around the basket with Rodney Williams and Austin Williams, a pair of bruisers.
Rodney Williams, the league’s third-leading scorer who arrived averaging 16.5 points per game, ended up with seven points to equal his low on the season. Elon, statistically the CAA’s weakest rebounding team, grabbed five more boards than Drexel.
“When we play as a team, when the guards help down and dig on them and we double,” Dawkins said, “we’re able to scramble and make it tough on them. I think that’s when we have success, when we have a team effort.”
Seibring connected on 4-for-6 from 3-point territory and all seven of his attempts from the foul line, a place where Elon has had issues, but not on this night. Elon’s 25-for-28 effort on free throws produced its season bests in shooting percentage and points from the foul line.
The Dragons were led by guards Kurk Lee and John Moran, who scored 15 points apiece. Miles Overton, the transfer from Wake Forest, had 13 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field. Drexel’s 38.6-percent shooting as a team became one of the many areas that pleased Matheny.
Drexel got as close as 67-55 on Lee’s 3 with 6:43 left. Elon responded with a flurry that removed any doubt, Swoope, Seibring and Santa Ana, the trio of standout sophomores, taking turns burying four 3s in the space of 2:40 to restore the lead to a 21-point margin.
“We need to be more connected on defense,” first-year Drexel coach Zach Spiker said. “We’ve got to be a living, breathing organism together. I thought we got broken off into bits and pieces and we weren’t dialed in, too stretched out.”
■ TIP-INS …: An 18-3 run in the first half transformed Elon’s lead from one point to 30-14. … Six of Elon’s eight steals were swiped during the opening 11 minutes. … “Guys are starting to settle into a rhythm and we’re feeding off each other, which I think has been important,” Dawkins said. “I think we’re all playing off each other and it’s really working out well.”
|
|
|
Drexel
Jan 20, 2017 14:27:11 GMT -5
Post by Dougie on Jan 20, 2017 14:27:11 GMT -5
Team did look good last night. Solid contributions from multiple players. I want to parlay the recent stretch into a few wins against teams in the middle of the pack (JM and W&M especially). So tomorrow is a big game if we want a top 4-5 finish. Seems UNCW, CC and NU have separated themselves from the pack (looking at how they are playing and record). NU did have a curious loss last night though, proving how tough road wins are in any league
|
|
|
Drexel
Jan 20, 2017 14:51:24 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by fc4life on Jan 20, 2017 14:51:24 GMT -5
We'll need to win some games on the road to make a charge up to the top 4/5. We also need more from our role players.
I'm hoping we can show up the rest of the way. Tomorrow night is huge.
I watched the CoC/UNCW game after we finished up last night. I'm not sure we're close to those teams.
|
|