By: Jenessa Gladstone
Box Score
Burnaby, BC- The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team won their third straight on Tuesday night, defeating the Douglas Royals, 104-76 in the West Gym.
The victory is the third consecutive non-conference win for SFU this season.
"Everyone gets to play a lot and we mold as a team in these types of games. We have a lot of new guys so its good for us to just get out on the court, that's the best way for the team to get comfortable together," said Taylor Dunn (Vancouver, WA). "The teams we're playing are very competitive, so it's good for us to come up against that."
Dunn played 16 minutes in the game, earning 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Elijah Matthews (Washington, DC) led the scoring effort, scoring 21 on the night and shooting a perfect 5-5 from beyond-the-arc. Justin Cole (Los Angeles, California) followed Matthews adding 17 points, while Dillon Hamilton (Vancouver, BC) scored 12 and Darius Page (Seattle, WA) chipped in 11.
Page tied with Dunn for the lead in rebounds with seven.
"Matthews played through some of our goofiness to lead the team," said Head Coach James Blake. "Other guys then jumped on that and earned the win."
The Clan dominated across the board, shooting 58 percent from field goal range, 52 percent from three-point range and outrebounding Douglas 46-28.
Kristian Hildebrandt led Douglas with 20 points while Ethan McKean added 15 for the Royals.
Matthews knocked down a long-distance three-point shot to put SFU on the board, giving the home team an initial 3-0 lead.
The Clan held on to the lead for the next five minutes, until a steal and breakaway from Royals' guard Ethan McKean gave Douglas a 16-15 edge with 13:19 to go in the first half.
The visiting team went on to use a 8-0 run to expand their lead to 22-15 with just over twelve minutes remaining until halftime.
With 10:38 remaining, a technical foul off a scorebook error proved to be costly for Douglas as it sent SFU to the free-throw line. Niang sparked an 8-0 run which gave the lead back to the Clan, 28-23 at 9:08.
Ending the half on a 14-6 run, SFU took a 49-39 lead in to the locker room.
The Clan continued to hold down the Royals, leading by as much as 33 with 5:15 to go.
Forward Keegan Dunlop (St. Catherine's, ON) popped in a shot under the basket to break the 100-point mark for SFU, bringing the score to 101-69 with 3:52 to go.
"We need to get up for everybody, whether its conference winners or a community college. I like to evolve and learn from these games. San Francisco Art Academy is going to be a tougher battle, so our boys need to bring it," finished Blake.
The win bumps the Clan's record to 4-1 on the season.
The team will next host the San Francisco Art Academy on Saturday, November 23 at 7:00 p.m.
