San Rafael, CA – After a hard-fought 40 minutes, the Simon Fraser University men's basketball team were unable to pull off a win over Dominican University, falling 114-112 in non-conference action on Saturday night.

After coming back to tie the game at 112-112 with 25-seconds remaining, the Clan were unable to hold on in the dying moments, as a Penguins layup to put the home team up by two with seven-seconds remaining would be the deciding basket.

Simon Fraser's buzzer-beater attempt with one second on the clock did not fall, as the visitors would drop the second and final game of their Californian swing.

"We played well for one half of basketball versus Dominican," said head coach James Blake. "We trailed the entire game and the guys showed toughness and heart to overcome a tough road game. Sango had a great look to win the game, and I am proud of their effort today."

The Clan's Michael Harper (Melbourne, Australia) led all players on the floor with 30 points, while Sango Niang (Paris, France) added 25 points and five assists, improving from the previous night's game, and shooting 42.4 percent from beyond-the-arc on the night.

Simon Fraser came off to a slow start, trailing 27-12 seven minutes into the game, but managed to fight back to within striking distance by the end of the half.

Trailing 57-50 at the half, the Clan continued to press, tying the game three-times in the period in hopes of stealing the lead and the game from the Penguins.

Once again Simon Fraser's pressing defence, which kept them in the game throughout the night, forced a game-high 18 turnovers. They suffered, however, under the hoop, as Dominican's big-men put up 78 points in the paint to SFU's 36, and the team was out-rebounded 49-26.

The Clan shot 80 percent from the free-throw line, including a pair by Roderick Taylor-Evans (Uplands, CA) to tie the game at 112 at the end of the second half.

Evans-Taylor had 19 points, four rebounds and four steals for SFU while Justin Cole (Los Angeles, CA) added 14 points for the visitors. Freshman Denver Sparks-Guest also scored in double-digits, contributing 10 points to the Clan's campaign.

The Clan, who fall to 3-2 in non-conference play, return home for a week of training before heading south for their second Californian road-trip of the season.

SFU will play back-to-back games against Holy Names and Notre Dame de Namur on November 28 and 29, in final preparation for their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener on December 6.

The Clan host Western Washington in a border-battle at 7:30 p.m., while will feature a banner-raising ceremony in honour of Canadian hero Terry Fox, as a banner displaying his name and No. 4 that he wore as a student-athlete on the Clan junior varsity basketball team will be raised to the West Gym rafters.

For more information about the ceremony or for ticket inquiries, visit athletics.sfu.ca.