Nampa, ID – The Simon Fraser University men’s basketball team won their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference game of the season in convincing fashion on Thursday night, defeating the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders 98-73.
Juniors Justin Cole (Los Angeles, CA) and Sango Niang (Paris, France) led SFU to their first conference victory of 2013-14 season as the team shot 67.2 percent in the game.
“We were due for a good shooting night,” said Head Coach James Blake. “I’m proud of how we shared the ball and made the extra pass.”
Cole had 28 points in the Clan’s campaign while Niang added 24 of his own.
Senior Dillon Hamilton (Vancouver, BC) also had a strong night coming off the bench to add 14, three of which were three-balls, while Taylor Dunn (Vancouver, WA) also cracked double-digits with 12 points on the night.
Simon Fraser started the night off strong as Cole opened the scoring for the Clan nailing two back to back three-pointers two minutes in to account for six of his 21 first half points.
Niang would follow up with one of his own, putting the visitors up 9-1 with 17:52 to go in the first.
Next, Ibrahim Appiah (Montreal, QC) would add two off a jumper, but it was all Cole early in the first as he added five more to put the Clan up 16-2 only four minutes in.
The Clan would continue to dominate the first half despite a surge by the Crusaders, as Hamilton sunk three three-pointers in two minutes to double the Clan’s lead and make it 42-21.
At the half, SFU would lead 60-38.
The second half would start similar to the first as Cole and Niang sunk baskets to get the game rolling again for the Clan.
The Clan would take their largest lead of the lead of the game midway through the half as Hamilton found Cole for the dunk to make it 83-52.
“I am excited about how well we learned from a hard week of practice and come constructive criticism last week,” finished Blake.
SFU would finish the game just shy of 100 points, but their efforts would allow them to win by their largest margin over a GNAC competitor since joining the conference in 2010.
The win brings the Clan’s record to 8-8 overall and 1-7 in the GNAC.
The men hit the court again this Saturday, January 25 in Ellensburg, WA where they face the Central Washington Wildcats.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and fans can tune in via Clan TV at athletics.sfu.ca
SOURCE: SFU ATHLETICS
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