By: Jenessa Gladstone
Box Score Monmouth, OR - The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team suffered an 18 point loss to the Western Oregon University Wolves on
Saturday night, 78-60.
“We didn't come out with any energy or urgency and it showed in the first half," said assistant coach Chris Cline. "We cannot continue to wait until we are down by so much and battle back. We have to get back to the drawing board and prepare our guys for next week. We have 11 games left and each one is very important from here on out.”
In the contest, three SFU players tied for the top scoring position.
Taylor Dunn (Vancouver, WA), Dillion Hamilton (Vancouver, BC), and Anto Olah (Gold Coast, AUS) each earned 11 points. Olah also led the team in rebounds, grabbing eight.
Andy Avgi carried the Wolves with 15 points while Kolton Nelson added 12.
The Wolves' defence paralyzed the Clan, holding SFU to a 34.9 percent field goal shooting percentage.
SFU struggled early in the first half, allowing WOU to start the game on a 4-0 run.
Trailing by 11 with 9:42 remaining, a deep jumper from guard Matt Raivio (Vancouver, WA) brought the Clan back into the game, slicing the Wolves' lead to eight.
However, a 9-3 WOU run to close out the first half, gave the Wolves a 42-18 lead going into the locker rooms.
SFU continued to struggle in the second half, trailing by as much as 25 with 14:36 left to play.
Despite WOU's established lead, the Clan got within 16 of the Wolves on two occasions, both coming from beyond-the-arch shots.
However, showing their defensive strength once again, WOU outrebounded SFU 38-28, including grabbing 27 defensive boards while the Clan grabbed 14.
With the loss, SFU's GNAC record drops to 0-7 while their overall record drops to 5-11.
The Clan will return to the West Gym to battle the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks on Thursday,
January 24 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free for SFU students.
