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Men's Basketball Joe Browning

Seahawks Share CAA Regular Season Title Heading Into Tourney

2015 CAA Men's Basketball Championship Pairings | UNCW-Elon Box Score

ELON, North Carolina – Junior guard Tanner Samson led four Elon players in double figures with 19 points to help the Phoenix down UNCW, 74-55, in the Colonial Athletic Association regular season finale for both men's basketball teams Saturday night at Alumni Gym.
 
The Seahawks wrapped up the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and 12-6 mark in the conference. The Phoenix carved out a 14-17, 6-12 regular season mark in their first year in the CAA.
 
UNCW tied for the CAA's regular season crown with William & Mary, James Madison and Northeastern and will be the No. 2 seed in next weekend's Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship in Baltimore, Md. The Seahawks will face the winner of Friday's matchup between No. 10 College of Charleston and No. 7 Drexel on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
"I'm so proud of what these guys accomplished this year," said Kevin Keatts, UNCW's first-year head coach. "It was a disappointing loss, but it doesn't take away our body of work for the whole season. Give Elon credit. They played a very good basketball game and got to the free throw line a lot more than we did."
 
Samson went 8-of-8 at the free throw line en route to his game-high total and added five rebounds for the Phoenix. Senior guard Austin Hamilton chipped in 14 points, freshman guard Elijah Bryant scored 13 and sophomore forward Christian Hairston had 12.
 
Senior guard Addison Spruill scored 15 points to represent the lone player in double figures for the Seahawks, who shot 33.9 percent on the night, including 0-for-14 behind the arc. It was the first time the Seahawks failed to make a trey since a 69-57 home loss to Old Dominion on Dec. 21, 2013.
 
The Seahawks fell behind early and were hampered in their comeback bid by foul trouble. Four of UNCW's five starters fouled out in the contest when the Seahawks were whistled for 29 personals. Elon capitalized at the free throw line, converting 31-of-39 charity tosses, to outscore the Seahawks by 16 points at the stripe.
 
After Elon built a 37-22 cushion at halftime, the Phoenix scored the first five points of the second period to push the margin to 20 points and then never let the Seahawks get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
 
Back-to-back baskets by Spruill and Freddie Jackson helped the Seahawks close to within 60-46 with 6:16 on the clock, but Elon responded with a 9-2 spurt, capped by Hairston's layup and free throw with just under three minutes remaining to get the difference back to 21 points.
 
Elon's largest lead of the contest came with 12:59 left when Samson sank a long triple to give the Phoenix a 50-27 bulge.
 
The Phoenix took advantage of UNCW's early foul trouble and erratic play to race out to a 37-22 advantage at intermission. All five UNCW starters finished the first stanza with two personal fouls and the Seahawks committed 10 turnovers in falling behind quickly.
 
Hamilton ignited the Phoenix to an 11-4 lead six minutes into the contest, scoring seven of Elon's first 11 points. Hamilton's conventional three-point play with 14:19 on the clock gave Elon a seven-point edge.
 
UNCW closed to within four points, 13-9, when Spruill converted a layup at 10:41 before the Phoenix wrapped up the first half with a flurry. Elon used a 14-4 spurt to gain further separation and after UNCW's C.J. Gettys tossed in both ends of a bonus situation, Samson made two free throws and Bryant drained a triple from the top of the key to give the Phoenix their largest lead of the first half, 37-32, with 27 seconds left.
 
GAME NOTES: The Phoenix lead the all-time series, 7-6…Elon has won four of the six meetings at Alumni Gym….The Seahawks lost to Elon skipper Matt Matheny for the first time in three tries…Elon had 18 turnovers and UNCW wound up with 16 miscues…Cedrick Williams pulled down eight rebounds for the Seahawks and added three blocks and three steals…UNCW had 13 offensive rebounds…Freddie Jackson came up with four steals…The Seahawks are 4-3 against state opponents in 2014-15…Six Seahawks grabbed at least four rebounds in the game…UNCW never led in the matchup… UNCW had just one assist in the game, tying the school record set vs. Towson on Feb. 10, 2014…The announced crowd of 1,876 was a sellout for the Phoenix.
 
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Players Mentioned

C.J. Gettys

#23 C.J. Gettys

C
7' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Freddie Jackson

#10 Freddie Jackson

G
6' 4"
Senior
Addison Spruill

#24 Addison Spruill

G
6' 4"
Senior
Cedrick Williams

#40 Cedrick Williams

F
6' 9"
Senior

Players Mentioned

C.J. Gettys

#23 C.J. Gettys

7' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
C
Freddie Jackson

#10 Freddie Jackson

6' 4"
Senior
G
Addison Spruill

#24 Addison Spruill

6' 4"
Senior
G
Cedrick Williams

#40 Cedrick Williams

6' 9"
Senior
F