After seven straight conference losses to start the season, the SFU’s men’s basketball team is finally in the win column. A dominant, 98–73 road outing against the Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders was the Clan’s first victory against Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) competition this season, and their first of 2014.
The Crusaders are ranked second-last in the GNAC, tied with three other teams at 3–4 entering the contest, ahead of only the previously 0–7 Clan. Despite having the worst scoring offense in the GNAC, NNU is much stingier on defense; the Crusaders averaged only 76.9 points per game.
But the Clan, who average about that number on offence (76.3 points per game), shot 67 per cent from the field — and 68 per cent from beyond the arc — to break through that defence.
Sango Niang and Justin Cole, two newcomers to Burnaby Mountain, drained 24 and 28 points, respectively, and led the way for SFU. They had help, too — Dillon Hamilton and Taylor Dunn both hit double digits with 14 and 12 points apiece. It was by far SFU’s best offensive showing against a GNAC opponent.
The Crusaders are no offensive juggernaut themselves — they actually scored above their 69.7 point per game average — but outplayed the Clan on the boards, out-rebounding SFU 30–25. With SFU dropping shots all night, though, NNU’s comparatively poor 46 per cent shooting wasn’t nearly enough, even if they were getting more second-shot opportunities than the Burnaby boys.
“We were due for a good shooting night,” said head coach James Blake after the contest. “I’m proud of how we shared the ball and made the extra pass.
“I’m excited about how well we learned from a hard week of practice and some constructive criticism last week,” he added.
It was SFU’s best game of the season, and shows just what this team can do when all their star power gets hot at once. With the win, the Clan are still six games below .500, but for all the struggles the team has had this year, a win is welcome. The games are only going to get tougher; the Clan will have to keep the hot hand, and keep learning, if they want the wins to continue.
