Up 12 points at halftime, and making 48.3 percent of field goals against a Northwest Nazarene Crusaders team that had lost six straight, it looked as though the men’s basketball team were well on their way to their second GNAC victory of the season Thursday night.
“We had a commanding half time lead — should have been even more than that,” said head coach Virgil Hill, reflecting on a first half that saw SFU dominate, something that fans rarely see of the men’s team this year in the West Gym.
Instead, the Clan got off to a horrific start to the second half, allowing the Crusaders to eliminate a 12 point deficit and take the lead, all in the span of less than five minutes. In what seems to be a reoccurring theme, SFU couldn’t generate any offence, aside from free throws at the end of the game. Though the game remained relatively close until the end of the game, with SFU tied 60–60 with 4:32 left in the game, and down only by two until the 2:25 mark, SFU made only one field goal in the last 6:09 of the game — and that was a meaningless layup scored with 3.1 seconds left, when the Crusaders had already guaranteed their victory.
SFU was outscored 51–30 in the second half. After a remarkable field goal percentage in the first, they made only 28.1 percent of shots — well below SFU’s average 41.2 percent. After a commanding dozen point lead, SFU fell by a dozen, losing 77-65.
“It’s sort of like the same thing again and again,” said Hill. ”Our inability to defend and increase our level of intensity got us in the second half. We did a good job defensively in the first half, but they beat us 51–30 in the second half. We couldn’t score. We couldn’t finish baskets, we couldn’t finish plays.
Particularly painful were the missed chances, especially after a five point run which saw SFU tie up the game 58–58, of which the last two points scored by Graham Smith, was SFU’s second last field goal of the game.
“We had a chance to go up there, we missed two layups, and that’s four points we don’t get in the moment [. . .] said Hill. “We’ve got to move the ball, we go too slow — we don’t move the ball. It stays in one guy’s hand too long.”
Gibran Sewani was one of the highlights of the game, putting up 11 points, including an impressive slam dunk, as well, having attempting several impressive plays, including an alley-oop that fell just short due to the blocking prowess of the Crusaders.
Freshman Oshea Gairey led the team with 20 points, while senior Michael Harper put up three three-pointers and 16 points. Junior JJ Pankratz made several key plays in the first, and had 10 points.
“It’s sort of like the same thing again and again”
The loss on the court, however, wasn’t the only loss the team faced. Junior transfer Max Barkeley, who had led the team in points per game with 14.9, and had second-most minutes played in the game previous, is no longer on the roster, parting ways with the team after self-described “differences” with coach Hill.
“With only one year left I want to pursue my degree and final year of my collegiate career with the best chance to win games and compete,” said Barkeley, who was not on the roster for Thursday’s game.
“I do want to wish the guys nothing but the best cause this is the first team I’ve ever been on where I can truly say I like every teammate a lot. I’m rooting for them and wish the coaching staff all the best as well,” he explained. “Not the right fit and both myself and the program have plenty of work to do.”
Without Barkeley, SFU will play its last home game Saturday at 3 p.m. against Central Washington University, who sits in fifth place in GNAC standings and has clinched a GNAC playoff berth.
“They’re more athletic than us, we have to hit shots, be smart with how we defend,” said Hill.
As the annual Senior’s Night, Harper, who leads the team in points scored with 330, will be the only senior honoured.
