In the last 2:25 of the game, SFU went on an impressive run, outscoring the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks 12–5. Too little, too late, as the men’s basketball team fell 78–68 in the end, but it was pretty impressive for a team that hadn’t managed a single point in the nearly five minutes previous, and in the other 17:45 of the half had only 23 points to show.

“We got more aggressive, and in turn, they kind of backed off,” said Head Coach Virgil Hill.

In that short span, freshman Oshea Gairey put a show of his own on, with seven of those 12 points coming from him.

Though the loss Thursday night in the West Gym marked SFU’s 17th straight loss, and for vast stretches, the team was unable to find much offence, it was encouraging to see two straight games where SFU was competitive. In Saturday’s game, SFU lost by only four points and held the lead at various points in the second half.

“I thought we battled from tip to buzzer, we didn’t give up,” Hill explained. “At this point in our season, I’ll take any positive and certainly we’re generally not getting blown out, so for us that’s a positive. We could just easily pack it in, and never try hard again, but we’re in it. We’re in it, we’re battling, we’re just a little young and we just can’t close.”

The Nanooks opened the scoring, going up 2–0 29 seconds in, but senior Michael Harper answered right back for the Clan in the beginning of what was a good game for him, putting up 23 points total and making a few key defensive plays.

Andrew Williamson gave SFU the 4–2 lead moments — his only points of the game — but for the rest of the game, SFU would trail.

At one point in the first half, the Nanooks built up a nine-point lead, however, SFU eventually clawed their way back in, ending the first down only by three, by score of 36–33.

“I thought we did a really good job defensively in the first half. The first half I thought we really competed and took them out of a few things they wanted to do, and just made it difficult. The whole thing for us is to just give them resistance,” said Hill.

SFU also benefitted from the free throw gods — or at least Cedric Chen’s operatic chants — in the first half, sinking nine of their 11 attempts, while the Nanooks put up an atrocious three for nine.

“I’ll take any positive and certainly we’re generally not getting blown out, so for us that’s a positive.”

In the first half, SFU completely shutout the Nanooks’ leading scoring Travante Williams, who averages 17.6 points per game.

“We made a concerted effort to attack him,” said Hill.

However, in the second, SFU’s fortunes changed. Though the Clan put up a decent seven for 11 free throws, the Nanooks made up for an abysmal first half going 10 for 14. And Williams made up for getting shutout by scoring 13 points in the second, something Hill believes happened because of a lack of calls.

“Officiating’s a hard thing to do, [but] there’s obvious calls to be made,” he explained. “I think they missed on a couple of calls — some of them were consequential. They missed on a guy stepping out of bounds and they scored on a swing bucket. Well, if Travante [Williams] gets his fourth foul, he goes out of the game earlier, now maybe we make a run without their best player. So those are instances in the game where the dynamic of the game changes based on if that foul’s called: now he has four with seven minutes to go, their coach has to make a decision — ‘Do we take him out, or do we keep him in?’

“[We made an effort to] put him into foul trouble, and we did that, but the refs missed those calls.”

Harper opened the second half’s scoring to put SFU within one, but the Nanooks quickly asserted dominance, at one point building a 17-point lead.

“It’s hard, because it’s now not gross errors, just kind of small errors, and we start to grow and get better, but unfortunately the teams we’re playing are better,” explained Hill. “But I know we’ve gotten better.”

One of real positives of the game was freshman Graham Smith. Despite limited minutes — only six — he made the most of his playing time and scoring five points. He could be a key player in the next few seasons.

Hidde Vos snapped a two game pointless drought by putting up eight points, six of them coming on the three point line, his bread and butter. He was even making more attempts, trying for eight field goals — making three — when the last two games combined he only made six attempts. Vos was rewarded for his increased output with more playing time, putting up 19 minutes on the court, compared to 11 and 14 minutes the last two games.

The Denver Broncos defence looked amazing in their 20–18 victory over the vaunted New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was under siege all game as the Denver pass rush eviscerated the Patriots offensive line and wreaked havoc all game. What was so impressive is that the Broncos managed to get pressure with a basic four-man rush, rarely sending more than five as they infrequently employed blitz packages.

The Broncos defence was dominant this season, and was the number one overall defense in the NFL. The unit features devastating pass rushers in Demarcus Ware and Von Miller, outstanding linebackers in Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan, and a brash elite Cornerback in Aqib Talib. Some commentators have been so bold as to call the Broncos the best defence of all time. For me, that distinction will always go to the 1985 Chicago Bears. That being said, a dominant Broncos defensive performance in this Super Bowl would give me pause in this debate.

The Denver offence did enough to get the win in the AFC Championship game under the leadership of 39-year-old quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning is a shadow of his former self and posted the worst statistical year of his career. The low point was a mid-November loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, wherein Manning completed five of 20 passes for 35 yards and four interceptions. He then was deactivated from the lineup to treat various physical ailments he had tried to battle through.

In Manning’s place, unproven backup Brock Osweiler stepped up and did an admirable job putting the Broncos in position to clinch number-one seed and home field advantage in AFC playoffs if they were able to win their last game of the season against the San Diego Chargers.

The San Diego game represented the first game of Peyton Manning’s career where he was active and not in the starting lineup. As the game unfolded the Broncos offence sputtered as Osweiler was undone by several dropped passes by the Broncos receiving corps.

Manning is a shadow of his former self and posted the worst statistical year of his career

At halftime Head Coach Gary Kubiak — a former Broncos quarterback himself — elected to put Peyton Manning back in the lineup. The savvy veteran guided the Broncos to victory with solid but not spectacular play. The Broncos seemed to execute better under Manning and his veteran leadership. His ability to check into the right plays and protections at the line of scrimmage contributed to the team’s success despite the noticeable decline of his arm strength.

Super Bowl 50 will be Peyton Manning’s fourth Super Bowl. He is 1–3, his past trip having been with the Broncos two years ago. In that game, the Seahawks romped 43–8 after taking a commanding 22–0 halftime lead.

Facing the Broncos and their vaunted defence are the upstart Carolina Panthers. If you bet on the Panthers winning the Super Bowl this preseason, you are a lucky person, because you are one game away from cashing in on 50-to-1 odds in some sports books.

The Panthers went 15–1 this season, defeating a very strong Seahawks team in the Divisional Round and crushing an outstanding Arizona Cardinals team 49–15 in the NFC Championship. The Panthers were written off in the pre-season when their 2014 number one draft pick and top receiver Kelvin Benjamin went down with a season-ending injury. However, the Panthers did not skip a beat on offence and put up staggering stats led by the new Michael Jordan of the NFL: Cam Newton.

I cannot come up with another comparison to Newton in the sport of football because he is such a unique player. This six-foot-five, 248 pound quarterback has the speed of a running back and strength of a linebacker. He also has outstanding arm strength, pocket presence, touch and a mind for the game. Sorry, Russell Wilson, but the league has never seen anyone with his unique skill set. In just one season as a starter in NCAA football, Newton led Auburn University to a National Championship and won the prestigious Heisman Trophy along the way.

Should the Panthers win the Super Bowl, Newton would become the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl, the National Championship, and the Heisman. He will most likely win this year’s NFL MVP as well. At 26 years old in his fifth NFL season, Newton posted staggering numbers passing for 3837 yards with 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Newton’s weapons include skilled tight end Greg Olsen, talented running back Jonathan Stewart, and undersized journeyman Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn, the latter of whom scored two electrifying touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game.

Like the Broncos, the Panthers have a ferocious defence. Their leader is the 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Luke Kuechly. Supporting Kuechly is linebacker Thomas Davis, who will be playing in the Super Bowl with a broken forearm, and trash-talking cornerback Josh Norman. Norman made headlines earlier in the season for his extremely intense individual battle with Giants Superstar Odell Beckham Jr.  

Should the Panthers win the Super Bowl, Newton would become the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl, the National Championship, and the Heisman.

While the Broncos’ defence is simply outstanding, Newton is even better.

The Panthers will jump out to an early lead which will cause Peyton Manning to press and commit mistakes. Early turnovers will spiral into more Panther opportunities which Newton will convert into touchdowns. Newton enjoys endzone celebrations and likes to fashion himself as Superman.

You will be seeing a lot of this on Super Bowl Sunday in a game which will be reminiscent of Seattle’s victory in Super Bowl 48. Get used to Cam Newton. You may be seeing this outstanding young player in many future Super Bowls.

For Manning, it may well be his final game. Unfortunately for him, it will be an inglorious ending to an otherwise outstanding career.  In the first Super Bowl where two number one overall picks square off, I am going with the upstart over the grizzled veteran.

Prediction: Panthers 38, Broncos 13         

With 59.3 seconds left, SFU is down 73–72 to the Montana State University Billings (MSUB) Yellowjackets, and junior Max Barkeley has two free throw attempts. Barkeley is in his first year with the Clan — a transfer from Victor Valley College in San Bernardino County, CA — and leads the team in points per game average. SFU only needs one of those attempts to successfully tie the game.

“I usually make [those],” said Barkeley after the game.

Instead, both are unsuccessful, and with 32 seconds left on an SFU foul, MSUB adds another point on the free throw, but miss on one attempt, still giving SFU a fair chance to tie it up or even take the late lead.

However, senior Michael Harper misses on a layup with 16 seconds left, and with only 1.8 seconds left, Barkeley misses on a three point attempt that would give SFU the lead. To add insult to injury, SFU is assessed another foul, and MSUB scores on both attempts, closing the game at 76–72.

A last second three-pointer buzzer beater attempt from Barkeley well out of range isn’t even listed on the official boxscore.

It was a heartbreaking finish for the 675 recorded fans who had come to the West Gym Saturday night looking for the men’s basketball team’s first win against a Great Northwest Athletic Conference team this season — and their first win of 2016.

“We did a lot of good things, it just seemed like we stalled at a few points. We never really got to the sharpness you have to be to compete in this conference — at this level,” said Barkeley. “We had a lot of chances late where we beat ourselves, so that’s where you look back and those are the plays where you have to look at each other in the mirror.”

Despite this, it was a great game. It was fast paced and back and forth, and SFU was in the game until literally the last second — they did not look like a team with an abysmal overall 1–17 record and 0–12 in conference play.

But “stalled” would be an accurate term to describe SFU’s offence for large periods of the game.

The Clan came out looking explosive in the opening minutes of the game, taking an early 4–0 lead, and not falling behind in scoring until four minutes in.

After a dominant first 10 minutes, however, scoring on both sides slowed down, with an abundance of whistles slowing the game down. With this slower pace, MSUB started to maintain the lead, at one point leading by five points.

But before halftime, SFU once again surged to end the half down only by one, by score of 40–39.

In the second half, the Yellowjackets once again took control of the game, building at one point an intimidating eight point lead. In other games, this might have been the point where SFU let the game become a lopsided affair after a reasonably even first half. In the previous game, for instance, the Clan lost 104–60, after being down only 12 points in the first half.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble going out and fighting back against teams,” said Barkeley. “We’re definitely the youngest team in the GNAC, and usually any team we play, we’re a lot younger all the way down the roster, so there’s just a different type of intensity you’ve got to bring; I thought tonight, we brought that for most of the time.”

Instead, SFU battled back and went on an impressive six point run, putting them down only two. With 9:18, the Clan tied the game 60–60 and were neck and neck the rest of the game.

Missed opportunities came to bite, however, and after a two point jumper by redshirt-sophomore Andrew Williamson to make the score 67–64 in SFU’s favour with 6:45 left, SFU didn’t make a single further field goal, only managing a measly five points coming in free throws.

The game marked Barkeley’s first game back after missing seven games after last playing December 31.

“I suffered a concussion earlier in the year, like in October, then I had another one like in November. I missed a bunch of class and I attempted to keep playing basketball, so it didn’t look good, it didn’t look right, on the NCAA’s part, so when I got a withdrawal from classes in the fall, SFU accepted but then it had to go the NCAA for them to see, ‘well okay, why did you keep playing?’” explained Barkeley.

“It got drawn over three weeks — every time I called, they called, ‘We need this now, we need this documentation,’ so it was a bit frustrating, but it tested my patience and I was lucky to have a lot of good people like Kelly Weber and Laura [Reid] up there, like I had a lot of people in my corner.”

Barkeley didn’t start the game but played the fifth most minutes on the team with 27 minutes on the court. When he came on to play, he made an immediate impact, bringing speed and energy, drawing fouls in the early part of the game. He finished with 13 points, good for third on the team.

“I felt good, my conditioning was fine. Everything felt fine, I got the shots I was going to get and I think a big part of my game is that — make or miss — I’m going to get in rhythm if I’m going to get the shots I usually want to get, but it sucks to miss both free throws,” he said.

“But that’s the way it happens, you know, that’s basketball, so we’ve got to live to see another day.”

Saturday night, the SFU Women’s Basketball team held their annual Pink Game in support of Breast Cancer research. With the team and a huge crowd decked in pink, the Clan were able to come away with the 66–59 victory over the Western Oregon Wolves. However, Head Coach Bruce Langford wasn’t looking at the game through rose-coloured glasses afterwards.

“I [think] we find ways to make games closer than they necessarily should be,” explained Langford. “We missed a lot of easy [shots], I thought our posts were really tentative with the ball inside, [and] we were spotty with the three point shot. When it was all said and done, we pulled it out but we got beaten on the boards. I think we can play better than that.”

The first half started off with a easy bucket for Rachel Fradgley, set up with a nice assist from Elisa Homer. However after that, SFU struggled hitting easy shots, and what could have been a huge lead turned into a very close first half. Ellen Kett and Alisha Roberts hit deep threes that sent the crowd into a frenzy, but a bucket with less than a second left gave Western Oregon a slim two point lead heading into the second half.

Once play resumed, SFU went on a seven point run to reclaim the lead. However, some questionable officiating — especially towards Sophie Swant — helped the Wolves get back the lead. From them on, the Clan was able to drive to the net effectively to draw foul shots, even if the team wasn’t able to get any buckets. Some timely threes from Kett and Roberts sealed the game, as SFU won by seven over the visitors.

SFU at game’s end took a total of 26 three point shots compared to Western Oregon’s 14. This was a concerted effort, according to coach Langford.

“Do we rely on the three? Well, if we don’t have a three, we don’t have a game, [because] we don’t have a post game. So we need to hit threes. Do we need to take smart ones? Yeah [. . .] today we shot better than the league average, we didn’t shoot our average. We shot 38 percent from the three, which is more than adequate. We certainly live and die by the three.”

So what the team need to improve on heading into their next contest Thursday against Northwest Nazarene?

“Everything. We need to rebound better, we need to offensively rebound better, we need to talk better [. . .] we need a couple more people to play a bit more consistently. We have trouble with certain people on the floor at the same time because their skillsets don’t necessarily mesh very well.”

The team’s next home game is February 11th, when they take on St. Martin’s University. Game time is at seven.