By: Jenessa Gladstone
Box Score
Nampa, ID – Despite coming within one possession in the final seconds of the game, the Simon Fraser University men's basketball team was defeated by the Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders, 81-75.
"We played with no intensity in the last 10 minutes of the first half," said assistant coach Chris Cline. "We played with much better intensity in the second half but we can't afford to dig ourselves into a hole like that."
Anto Olah (Gold Coast, AUS) led all players with 20 points while three other Clan members also hit double digits.
Matt Raivio (Vancouver, WA) added 16 along with Dillion Hamilton (Vancouver, BC) who scored 13.
Taylor Dunn (Vancouver, WA) also chipped in 11.
Leading the Crusaders was Kevin Rima who added 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clan started the game with a two point edge as the Crusaders were charged with a technical foul for a dunk during warm-ups. The call sent Raivio to the line for two shots from the charity stripe without any time being shed off the clock.
The first half proved to be a battle as the lead was exchanged six times while neither team could build a cushion beyond two possessions.
However, with 6:19 left until halftime, NNU went on a 20-2 run over SFU. The late NNU run proved costly for the Clan, as SFU went into the locker room trailing 43-26.
Despite Northwest Nazarene's comfortable lead, Simon Fraser continued to fight and slowly chipped away at the deficit.
With 9:13 remaining in the game, a converted layup from Hamilton closed up an 11-3 Clan run which brought the team within 12 of NNU, bringing the score to 56-48.
The continuous effort brought SFU within two of the Crusader's with 22 seconds remaining on the clock with, as the score was 75-73.
Simon Fraser trailed by only two possessions of Northwest Nazarene in the final seconds of the game, but were not able to pull ahead.
With the loss, the Clan's record drops to 1-12 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and 6-15 overall.
The Clan will return home to the West Gym on Thursday, February 14 to battle the Western Oregon University Wolves at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free for SFU students.
