GAME NOTES: The quarterfinal round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament kicks off Saturday with a matchup featuring the eighth-seeded Elon Phoenix butting heads against the top-seeded William & Mary Tribe at Royal Farms Arena.

The winner of this contest advances to the semifinal round on Sunday to meet either Hofstra of James Madison with a shot at the championship bout on the line.

Elon snuck through the first round of the CAA Tournament Friday with a narrow 74-69 overtime victory over ninth-seeded Towson. The Phoenix and Tigers battled back and forth all game long, but Elon gained the edge in the extra session. The Phoenix have won four games in a row entering this clash.

William & Mary earned the top overall seed despite finishing in a four-way tie in the CAA standings at 12-6. The Tribe earned the tiebreaker, despite falling in the regular-season finale to Drexel, 80-66.

Elon and William & Mary split the regular-season series, with each team winning on its home court. The Phoenix took an 85-79 victory over the Tribe back on Jan. 8, and William & Mary demolished Elon in Williamsburg on Feb. 11 in the second meeting, 77-58.

Elon gained a one-point lead at the midway break of Friday's clash versus Towson, but the Tigers came back to tie it in the second half behind 52.9 percent shooting from the floor. Austin Hamilton, who netted 12 points with seven assists for the Phoenix in the contest, missed a jumper with three seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Elon made 4-of-7 shooting in the extra session to gain the advantage, and Elijah Bryant finished with 21 points to pace the Phoenix. Tanner Samson added 12, Collin Luther chipped in 11 points and Kevin Blake contributed 10 in the overtime victory.

Bryant finished the regular season leading the team in scoring at 13.9 ppg, adding in a team-best 111 assists with a team high-tying 40 steals. Samson added in 12.6 ppg as the only two players for Elon that finished with a double-digit average. The Phoenix as a unit went into the tournament netting 70.8 ppg, but gave up a whopping 70.6 ppg to opponents. In the latest game Elon played against William & Mary, Bryant tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Hamilton chipped in 13 points. The Phoenix shot 40.3 percent from the floor in the loss, and made a mere 3-of-22 from beyond the arc.

Drexel was playing without its leading scorer in Damion Lee, but still got a solid effort from role players to connect on 49 percent of its field goal tries in the game to down the host Tribe in last Saturday's season finale. William & Mary buried 45.1 percent of its shots from the floor, but lost ground to the Dragons from the free-throw line and on the glass in rebounding. Marcus Thornton netted 19 points to pace William & Mary, adding in six rebounds and four assists. Terry Tarpey notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists, and Daniel Dixon added 14 points for the Tribe off the bench. Despite the loss, W&M still hit 10-of-28 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Because Lee for Drexel is out headed into the conference tournament, William & Mary's Thornton becomes the league's active leading scorer. Thornton is netting 19.4 ppg this season on 46.4 percent shooting from the field, adding in a 40.9 percent mark from 3-point distance. Omar Prewitt (13.0 ppg), Tarpey (12.0 ppg) and Dixon (11.3 ppg) round out a group of Tribe players netting a double-digit scoring total on the year. Tarpey tops the squad with 8.4 rpg, 89 assists, 40 blocked shots and 50 steals. William & Mary ranks second in the league in scoring offense, netting 73.2 ppg on an impressive 49.2 percent shooting mark. The team's defense is allowing 66.1 ppg to opponents.

The Tribe possess an offense that is too strong for most teams in the league to handle, especially Elon's spotty scoring defense. They didn't have the best overall record during the regular season, but there's a very good reason they were able to capture the top seed in the conference tournament.