By: Jenessa Gladstone
Box Score
Burnaby, BC- Despite a strong effort, the Simon Fraser University men's basketball team fell to the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets, 73-69 on Saturday night in the West Gym.
“Even though we lost, this was still a big step forward for us," said Anto Olah (Gold Coast, Austrailia). "We know what we have to do. We have seven more games left so we need to keep at it and keeping playing together as a team.”
Olah earned a double-double on the night, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Three other SFU players hit double-digits as Taylor Dunn (Vancouver, WA) led SFU with 21, Ibrahim Appiah (Montreal, QC) added 11, and Elijah Matthews (Washington, DC) chipped in 10.
MSUB's David Arnold and Jarrell Crayton tied for the overall lead, earning 22 points a piece.
SFU's strong efforts in the game was obvious, as they outrebounded MSUB 31-29 and outscored the Yellowjackets in the second half 38-36.
Dunn started strong for the Clan, shooting five for five from field goal range early on and earning SFU's first seven points of the night.
MSUB led early in the first half though until the Clan took off on an 8-0 run to gain a three-point edge on the Yellowjackets with 10:46 remaining in the half, 21-18.
The game became a battle as neither team could build a lead beyond two possessions.
With 7:46 remaining until the break, MSUB regained the lead which they took into halftime as SFU went into the locker rooms trailing by six, 37-31.
Matthews kicked off the Clan's second half effort with a layup that cut the Yellowjackets lead to four, 37-33.
With MSUB maintaining their lead, the Clan fought to chip away at the deficit throughout the final 20 minutes.
Coming through for SFU once again, Matthews hit a shot from beyond-the-arc with 1:12 left to play, cutting the Yellowjackets lead to six, 70-64.
Although the Clan continued to fight in the final seconds of the game, the late effort was not enough to overcome the deficit.
With the loss, the team's record drops to 6-13 overall and 1-10 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Clan men will hit the road next week to take on the Central Washington Wildcats in Ellensburg, WA on Thursday, February 7.
