Burnaby, BC – The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team improved to a two-game winning streak with a 79 to 71 victory over Alaska Thursday night.
 

Led by Sango Niang's 23 points and three assists the Clan earned their second consecutive win in exciting fashion in front of a large home crowd of 400.
 

Watch the game On Demand in HD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yBM71_N5Vg.
 

Simon Fraser opened strong taking a 12-3 lead to start the game and led by as much as 10 in the first half of play.
 

The majority of the action in period one was on the Nanook's end of the court, as the Clan offence pressed harder than fans have seen of late, forcing eight turnovers in the half.
 

"I am very proud of how this team has responded after a tough start to January," said head coach James Blake.  "In the past my teams have struggled to respond after disappointing stretches, and this is a testament to their hard work."
 

With one minute remaining in the half Niang found Roderick Evans-Taylor for the alley-oop, bringing the crowd to their feet and sparking momentum for the second half with SFU leading 45-33 at the midway buzzer.
 

In the second half, fouls proved costly for the Clan as Alaska's free-throw shooters brought the game from the game's largest lead of 18 points to within nine points near the 11-minute mark.
 

At 8:14 Evans-Taylor was hauled down on a break-away resulting in an intentional foul against the Nanooks. The junior forward was able to put away the ensuing foul-shots to give the Clan an eight-point lead and switch the momentum in SFU's favour.
 

Alaska did not give in, pressing until the end, but solid play from the Clan starters kept the game under control as SFU cruised to a 79-71 win.
 

Evans-Taylor put up 13 points and nine rebounds, finishing just shy of a double-double, while Hidde Vos had 12 points for SFU.
 

"We've put together two big wins to end the month which is largely due to our pressing and trapping," Blake continued. "The shots didn't fall tonight, but the defence is still very complimentary to our style of offence."
 

The Clan shot 38.3 percent from the floor and 22.7 percent from three-point range in the victory.
 

With the win SFU improves to 3-7 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference and an 8-10 overall record which they will attempt to further two days from now in their final home game of the month.
 

The Clan is back in action on Saturday, January 31 as they host Alaska Anchorage at 7:00 p.m. in the West Gym. Fans can follow live in HD here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87onIFVbBTc.