ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's basketball team opens play at the 2025 Jersey Mike's CAA Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed Drexel on Saturday, March 8. Tip-off time between the Phoenix (17-14, 8-10 CAA) and the Dragons (17-14, 9-9 CAA) is set for noon at the CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
• The game will air on FloCollege (FloHoops) via a paid subscription.
• Listen to the Elon Sports Network from Learfield IMG College's coverage on The Varsity Network App. Longtime voice of the Phoenix, Taylor Durham, will be on the call along with the pregame show beginning at 11:30 a.m.
• Links for the broadcast and live stats can be found on the Elon men's basketball schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Other in-game updates will be provided on X (formerly Twitter) by following @ElonMBasketball.
 
THE MATCHUP
• The Phoenix and the Dragons are meeting for the second time this season and the 22^nd time overall. Drexel leads the all-time series over Elon, 12-9.
• Elon took the lone regular-season meeting between the two teams on Jan. 16 as the Phoenix came away with a 65-54 victory at Drexel. Sam Sherry led three Phoenix players in double figures with 19 points while just missing out on another double-double with nine boards for Elon (13-5, 4-1 CAA). The Simpkins brothers, TJ and TK, scored 15 each, as Elon won its first game at Drexel since 2017.
• Saturday's game will be a rematch of the 2021 CAA Championship game between the two schools, which was the last time the two teams played each other at the league tournament. Drexel came away with a 63-56 win over the Phoenix in Harrisonburg, Va.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon closed out its regular season on the road at Stony Brook last Saturday, March 1. The Phoenix rallied to nearly overcome an 18-point second-half deficit, making it a one-possession game down in the final seconds. The Seawolves were able to hang on to capture a 71-66 victory.
• Stony Brook led 38-29 at the half and after the Phoenix scored the first basket of the second half, reeled off an 8-0 run to push its lead to 46-31. Going into the first media timeout of the second half, Elon trailed the hosts 48-35.
• The Seawolves saw their lead grow to 18, 53-35, but Elon however made a furious rally in the final minutes. A Sam Sherry three-pointer with 1:43 left made the score 67-64 in favor of the hosts.
• After Stony Brook split a pair at the free throw line, with 49 seconds left, Sherry scored again in the paint to make it a two-point game, 68-66. The Phoenix continued to have life after the Seawolves couldn't covert on their free throws, but could not find the evasive bucket to tie the game or take the lead in the final moments.
• TK Simpkins had 19 points to pace the Phoenix offense while Andrew King tied his career-high with 17 points including knocking down a personal-best five threes on the evening. Sam Sherry contributed with 16, 14 of those coming in the second half.
 
TK SIMPKINS, VAN KOMEN HONORED ON ALL-CAA TEAMS
• TK Simpkins and Matthew Van Komen were recognized on the All-CAA teams as the league office announced its postseason honors on Thursday. Simpkins was selected to the Second Team while Van Komen represented the maroon and gold on the Defensive Team.
• Simpkins becomes the first member of the Phoenix to earn a spot on the All-CAA teams since 2022. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native is the Phoenix's leading scorer at 16.2 points per game and is averaging 17.5 points in league play. He has scored in double figures 22 times on the season including seven 20-point games.
• Van Komen has blocked 72 shots for the Phoenix this season, setting a new single-season program record. The Lehi, Utah, native currently ranks eighth in the country in blocked shots and 11th overall in blocks per game (2.56). He has had 20 games this season with two or more blocks, including eight with four or more rejections. Van Komen has registered three double-doubles on the year and leads the Phoenix in rebounds per game at 8.4 with 11 double-digit rebound performances.
 
BILLY TAYLOR NAMED FINALIST FOR SKIP PROSSER MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
• Recognized with his second prestigious coaching honor of the season, Elon University men's basketball head coach Billy Taylor was named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award on Thursday, March 6 as presented by CollegeInsider.com.
• Taylor has led the Phoenix to a 17-14 record on the season, the first winning record for the maroon and gold since 2016-17, excluding the truncated 2020-21 COVID season. The third-year head coach has also paced Elon to eight victories during CAA play, the second-highest total for the Phoenix since joining the league. Some of the standout wins during league play include wins versus Towson and UNCW, the top-two teams in the CAA regular-season standings.
• Among the notable victories this season for the Phoenix includes Elon's 84-77 win at Notre Dame on Nov. 22. It was Elon's first win over a Power 4 opponent since 2012 and its first win over an ACC foe since 2005. Taylor reached 250 career wins earlier this season and was honored as the recipient of the midseason Hugh Durham Award as announced by CollegeInsider.com on Jan. 16. The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the top mid-major college basketball coach in Division I.
• The Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award is presented annually to the Division I head coach who wins with integrity on and off the court. The award honors those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity on and off it as well.
 
SCOUTING DREXEL
• Under ninth-year head coach Zach Spiker, the Dragons enter the championship as the No. 8 seed with a 17-14 overall record and a 9-9 mark in CAA play. Drexel wrapped up its regular season with a 71-61 victory over Monmouth at home last Saturday and have won four straight going into the weekend.
• Drexel is averaging 69.5 points on 45.5 percent shooting, including 35.1 percent from 3-point range, with 37.1 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.0 steals and 4.6 blocks per game, while allowing 66.2 points on 41.1 percent shooting, including 30.5 percent from 3-point range. The Dragons are connecting on 69.4 percent from the free throw line and rank 40^th in the country in blocks per game and 34^th in scoring defense.
• Three players are averaging double figures for Drexel, led by Kobe MaGee and his 13.7 points per game. Yame Butler is close at 13.6 ppg while Jason Drake rounds out the top scorers for the Dragons at 10.6 points per outing. MaGee has knocked down 74 triples at a 43.8 percent clip. Cole Hargrove is just under double-digit scoring at 9.7 points per game while leading the squad in rebounds (7.4 rpg.) and blocked shots (55). MaGee was named to the All-CAA Third Team while Hargrove earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team.
• Spiker was the 2023-24 Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year and helped lead the Dragons to its first 20-win season for the first time in a decade. His teams have won 10 or more CAA games in three straight seasons while posting three consecutive winning seasons, the first time that has been accomplished at Drexel since the 2004-05 season.
 
PRESEASON PRAISE
• Junior guard TK Simpkins was named to the 2024-25 Preseason All-CAA as the league announced its preseason awards on Oct. 18. Simpkins is the second Phoenix to earn a spot on the All-CAA preseason team in the past two seasons.
• The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was the Phoenix's top scorer at 13.8 points per game and in total assists with 90. He also finished second on the squad at 4.7 rebounds per game while pacing the Phoenix in free throws made at 128 while hitting 74 percent from the charity stripe.
• During the CAA season, Simpkins upped his scoring average to 14.6 per game and tied for the team-lead in rebounds per contest (4.9) while dishing out 3.7 assists per game. He was also active on the defensive end, recording 45 steals on the season. He scored in double figures 21 times in 2023-24.
 
2023-24 REWIND
• The Phoenix returned nine players from its squad a season ago including three starters. Overall, Elon brings back 54 percent of its scoring, 66 percent of its rebounding, 43 percent of its assists and 41 percent of its three-point field goals from 2023-24.
• Elon is coming off a season ranking third in the CAA in three-point field goal percentage (35.2), fourth in three-point attempts (24.4) and fourth in steals per game (6.3). The Phoenix also posted its first winning record on its home floor at Schar Center for the first time in the seven-year facility (excluding the truncated 2020-21 COVID season).
• Along with Simpkins, Elon's other returning starters are senior forward Sam Sherry and sophomore guard Nick Dorn. Both players averaged over nine points per game while starting at least 22 games for the maroon and gold.
• Head coach Billy Taylor begins his third season at the helm of the Phoenix men's basketball program. Taylor helped the Phoenix to post its first winning record at the Schar Center last season while also helping the maroon and gold earn a pair of wins versus teams with an RPI/NET rating of 150 in UNCW and Delaware.
 
UP NEXT
A Phoenix victory advances the maroon and gold to the quarterfinal round and a matchup versus No. 1 seed Towson on Sunday. Game time is scheduled for noon and will stream on FloCollege (FloHoops).