BURNABY, BC – The Simon Fraser University's men's basketball team picked up its first win on Tuesday night, beating the visiting Douglas College Royals 78-58 in a non-conference pre-season game.
 
The Clan got 14 points from both forward JJ Pankratz and guard Hidde Vos en route to a victory at the West Gym.
 
After trailing 37-35 at the half, the Clan was able to outscore Douglas by 22 points in the second half. Simon Fraser led by as much as 26 with 3:07 left to play.
 
SFU outscored Douglas 50-22 in the paint.
 
In the second half, SFU shot 45% from the field as opposed to just 36.8% in the first half, clearly highlighting better shot selection by the Clan.
 
Freshman Graham Smith came off the bench to add rebounding and energy. Smith finished with 10 points and 8 boards in just 14 minutes of action.
 
"Graham does all the little things on the court. He rebounds, he boxes out, he sets good screens, and he has great hands. So all those things manifest itself in production on the floor," said Clan head coach Virgil Hill. "We seemed to have good synergy when he was on the floor."
 
It wasn't just Smith; the rest of the SFU bench stepped up and provided 34 points compared to Douglas College's 9 from its reserves.
 
Simon Fraser forced 20 turnovers and it translated into easy baskets. The Clan got 25 points off of turnovers, and 8 points from fast breaks.
 
A 22-to-6 advantage in the offensive rebounding department led to an additional 21 second-chance points for the Clan.
 
The Royals were hot right out of the gate, shooting a scintillating 48% from the field in the first half. However, the improved defensive intensity from the Clan shut down the Royals to the tune of a 7-for-30 performance in the second half.
 
This weekend the Clan will play a pair of home contests against the Colorado Christian on Friday at 7 PM, and on Saturday at 5 PM. Hill believes the key to taming the Cougars will be stopping the three-point shot.
 
"We are going to have to be a team that defends the three-point line, and stop them in transition because that's how they score, and that's what they do well," he said.
 
--@SFUClan--