By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The Elon men’s basketball team will be in a postseason national tournament for the second time on the Division I level.
The Phoenix is bound for the College Basketball Invitational at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The 11-team field includes a first-round game with Elon (17-15) vs. Army (16-15) at 2:00 p.m. Sunday. The winner faces Florida Gulf Coast (18-14) on Monday in the quarterfinals. The tournament runs through Wednesday.
Other first-round matchups are Illinois State (19-14)-Presbyterian (14-18), Manhattan (17-13)-Incarnate Word (17-16) and Queens (19-14)-Northern Arizona (18-15). Jacksonville (19-13) and Cleveland State (21-12) joined Florida Gulf Coast with byes to the quarterfinals.
Elon’s other Division I postseason appearance came in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2013.
- Elon was ousted in the second round of the CAA Tournament with March 8’s 91-74 loss to eighth-seeded Drexel in Washington, D.C.
It was a rough month-long stretch for the Phoenix, which lost seven of its last nine games including the last four.
Ninth-seeded Elon, which received a first-round bye, fell behind 54-29 early in the second half. The Phoenix rallied to within 59-54 with more than nine minutes left before fading.
Sam Sherry, in his final CAA game, and T.K. Simpkins both had 21 points for Elon.
Andrew King and T.J. Simpkins, who logged 37 minutes in his first game back after missing three games with an injury, each had 11 points, while King provided a season-high eight assists.
T.K. Simpkins was named to the All-CAA second team, the first Elon player on an All-CAA team since 2022. Center Matthew Van Komen was selected for the all-defensive team.
Second-seeded UNC Wilmington won the championship with a 76-72 victory against No. 12 seed Delaware on March 11.
Women’s basketball
Elon lost to No. 11 seed Towson by 53-47 in last Thursday’s second-round game of the CAA Tournament at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
The sixth-seeded Phoenix, who received a first-round bye, had rallied to pull even at 27-27 at halftime. Raven Preston’s 14 points and 13 rebounds led Elon (15-15).
Towson had defeated No. 14 seed Northeastern a day earlier.
Ninth-seeded William & Mary won the tournament with Sunday’s 66-63 victory against third-seeded Campbell.
Prior to the tournament, the Phoenix had a strange final seven days of the regular season. Elon ended that portion of the schedule with March 8’s 70-54 victory at fifth-place Monmouth for a 9-9 league mark. Preston scored 20 points.
Elon lost 49-43 two days earlier at last-place Northeastern in its first game since defeating regular-season champion North Carolina A&T on March 2.
Last week, Elon’s Jayda Angel received two major CAA awards. She was named the league’s Rookie of the Year and the Sixth Player of the Year.
Preston, a redshirt sophomore, was selected as Scholar Athlete of the Year for CAA women’s basketball. Preston was also chosen for the All-CAA second team.
