It all came down to the wire for the Clan Thursday night. In perhaps the most exciting game of the year, the men’s basketball team downed the Northwest Nazarene (NNU) Crusaders for a second consecutive win.
The Clan got off to a slow start, not scoring until a little over three minutes in. By that point, the Crusaders were already up by seven.
For much of the first half, Northwest Nazarene held the lead — at one point up 16 points. SFU was marred by poor shooting, which only provided the Crusaders with more breakaways.
“It wasn’t a great first half for us just because of the rebounding margin,” head coach James Blake commented. The Clan had only five rebounds to NNU’s 27 in the first half. “I’ve never seen [that] before.”
However, as the half went on, the Clan tightened up their defence — and shooting.
Ignited by Roderick Evans-Taylor’s two threes, the whole team followed suit, closing the gap to 50–44 in the Crusaders’ favour at the end of the half. Evans-Taylor even gave NNU payback for their theatrics with a dunk of his own.
With the momentum firmly in SFU’s favour, riding an 11-point streak to open the second half, the Clan took the lead. The half quickly became a back-and-forth effort between the two teams.
With 1:16 left, it appeared that the Crusaders had the upper hand — up by 87–86. A questionable foul was called on Clan forward Patrick Simon, giving NNU the opportunity to create a bit of a gap with two free throws.
But they only made one, and on the other side of the court, Sango Niang net two to tie up the game. Simon then drew a technical foul, providing the Clan with another two points — and the lead.
One point would have been good enough to win, as the Crusaders failed to score again, but instead SFU earned two more on free throws, finishing with a 92–88 win.
If anything was more amazing than the game played, it was the crowd. Despite the reading break, the gym was pretty full. And it wasn’t just how many people were in attendance, but how engaged they were — with a minute left, everyone in the building was making noise, the kind of spirit not usually present at Clan games.
“I’ve just been surprised with the crowds we’ve got this year,” said Blake. “[Before the game] I said, ‘no one’s here, no one’s coming to this game,’ and then I get here, we’ve got a great crowd, they’re into it — it’s a blast.”
Perhaps it’s a symptom of the team showing continual improvement. Another symptom of the team giving their all every night — even with a losing inter-conference record — is the fact that we can talk about playoffs.
The truth is, it’s highly unlikely. Trailing Western Washington (WWU), who holds sixth place and the final playoff spot, by two games with only four more to play, the Clan would have to win nearly every game while WWU would have to lose nearly every game remaining.
The Clan have room for one more loss and one WWU win. This is asking SFU, a team that before this season had not won consecutive conference games, to go five for six; it’s also asking a team that is on a four-game winning streak to drop the rest of their games.
But the fact that we can say ‘playoffs’ at all at this time of year with a straight face is a huge accomplishment. And the players certainly believe they’ve got what it takes.
The Clan will play their last home game Saturday night. This will be the last game in the West Gym for seniors Sango Niang, Justin Cole, and Daniel Defloromonto.
SFU
Points: 92
Field Goals: 29–65 (44.6%)
3 Pointers: 14–38 (36.8%)
Free Throws: 20–25 (80.0%)
NNU
Points: 88
Field Goals: 33–62 (53.2%)
3 Pointers: 3–14 (21.4%)
Free Throws: 19–25 (76.0%)
Player of the Game: Roderick Evans-Taylor
Roderick Evans-Taylor led the scoresheet in total points with 23, but that would be really simplifying his dominance in this game. His three-pointers woke the team up, he was willing to get in and fight for the ball, and he even had a dunk. What more could you ask for?
Points: 23
Assists: 4
Rebounds (Off-Def): 3–1
