By: Jenessa Gladstone
Box Score
Burnaby, BC – The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team lost a close battle to the Central Washington University Wildcats, 89-84 on Saturday night in the West Gym.
“Their pressure can potentially cause a lot of problems but our game plan was to not let them dictate the game,” said
Taylor Dunn (Vancouver, WA). “We need to be a little more solid out there and not forcing things. I personally like to do a little too much sometimes and get carried away, so we just need to move the ball rather than force the shot.”
Dunn led the Clan with 24 points while Anto Olah (Gold Coast, AUS) chipped in 14.
Also reaching double digits were
Elijah Matthews (Washington, DC) who had 13 and
Dillon Hamilton (Vancouver, BC) who scored 10.
Dom Williams led the Wildcats with 21 points while Mark McLaughlin added 18.
The Clan outscored CWU 23-17 off turnovers and 38-36 in the paint. The Wildcat bench outscored the Clan's 29-22 and held the advantage on fast break points, 10-4.
Knocking down a pair of three-pointers, the Wildcats took an early lead on the Clan.
Shooting five for five from the three-point range and working off a converted four-point play by Matthews, SFU earned their first lead of the game at 14-13 with 15:44 to play in the half.
The Wildcats cut into the Clan's lead with a 6-2 run, giving CWU a one point edge at the seven minute mark.
Once again, SFU answered and regained the lead with a 7-0 run with 3:17 sitting on the clock until halftime.
But after committing a series of costly turnovers, the Clan found themselves trailing by two going into the locker rooms as the Wildcats led 47-45.
SFU came out ready to contend in the second, tying the score at 47 on their first possession of the half.
CWU responded with a basket of their own and maintained the lead the remainder of the game.
Both teams continued to play tough on the defensive end, resulting in a three minute shooting cold streak that saw the score stay 80-73 until just after the three minute mark.
That's when Olah broke through with a three-pointer, cutting the Wildcats lead to four with 2:55 left to play.
SFU stayed close to CWU the remainder of the game, but could not breakdown the Wildcats resulting in the 89-84 loss.
“We're much better than we were last year even though it doesn't show on the stat sheet yet," said head coach
James Blake. "I'm proud of where we're at. We just need to get some wins. If we get one win under a belt, it can have a snowball effect and give us confidence.”
The defeat drops the Clan's record to 0-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and 5-7 overall.
SFU will be back in action when they take on the Saint Martin's University Saints on January 17 in Lacey, Washington at 7:00 p.m.
