By: Jenessa Gladstone
Box Score Fresno, CA- In a battle that went down to the wire, the Simon Fraser University men's basketball team edged out the Fresno Pacific Sunbird, 69-67 in the 2013-14 season opener on Friday night.
The victory snapped the Sunbird's 14-game home win streak and gave the Clan their first win of the season.
"
Ibrahim Appiah was an absolute stud. He was the ultimate senior tonight," said Head Coach
James Blake. "
David Gebru kept us in the game in the first half and did a great job stepping up and leading the team. It really paid off for us."
Appiah (Montreal, QC) earned a double-double on the night, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. He also led the team in assists, adding six.
Sango Niang (Paris, France) led the team in points hitting 14, and was followed by Gebru (Seattle, WA) who chipped in 13.
Benefiting from Fresno's 17 fouls, SFU shot 92.9 percent from the free-throw line, converting 13 of 14 attempts.
The Clan also worked off of Sunbird turnovers, scoring 16 points on turnover plays.
Gebru gave SFU their first points off an under-the-basket layup, tying the score 2-2 just one minute into the game.
The teams traded baskets and the lead throughout the first half until Fresno took off on a 8-0 run to close out the period, taking a 34-27 lead into the locker rooms.
Starting the second half on a 6-2 run, the Sunbirds extended their lead to 11, bringing the score to 40-29 with 17:39 to play.
The Clan slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually gaining the lead off of a converted three-pointer from Appiah, leading 57-56 with 5:19 left in the game.
Fresno continued to test SFU, but the visitors were able to hold on the lead for the remainder of the game.
"Going into this weekend we were prepared because we played two top Division I programs in Gonzaga and Montana. It's tough to play back-to-back games so we'll take the day to recover," added Blake.
Moving on to nearby Turlock, CA, the Clan will take on the Cal-State Stanislaus Warriors on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
"We'll need our bench to play well and we'll need to keep on doing the little things to get a win against a much improved Cal-State Stanislaus team tomorrow," finished Blake.
