BURNABY, BC – The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team battled hard but dropped an 89-82 decision to the Colorado Christian Cougars at the West Gym on Friday night.
 
Leading the way for the Clan was redshirt sophomore Hidde Vos, who hit five three pointers en route to a 17 point effort. He also added six assists. Senior guard/forward Michael Harper chipped in with 13 points of his own, while playing solid defense on the Cougars' star forward, Wayne McCullough.
 
Simon Fraser carried a 41-33 lead into halftime. However, Colorado Christian opened the second half red-hot. The Cougars used a flurry of three-pointers and easy transition baskets to outscore the Clan 56-41 in the second half.
 
Turnovers and defensive miscommunications hurt the Clan down the stretch.
 
"We turned it over too many times. We had nine turnovers at the half, and we ended with 23," explained SFU head coach Virgil Hill. "And then, defensively, they started attacking us in transition and we didn't respond very well."
 
The Clan showed greater efficiency from the field than the Cougars did, shooting a healthy 52.5% from the field compared to 45.6% for CCU. It led to SFU outscoring CCU in the paint 34-24.
 
However, the difference was that the Cougars attempted a whopping 33 free throws, converting 26 of them, while the Clan had just 12 trips to the charity stripe.
 
Leading the way for CCU was forward Isaiah Hanson with 24 points and five threes of his own.
 
"He's a tough matchup. We went big on him, and we weren't quick enough to hang with him," said Hill.
 
Hill knows making defensive adjustments for Hanson will be a key to the rematch on Saturday at 5 PM in the West Gym, while also continuing to limit McCullough. "You've got to pick your poison there with those guys," said Hill. 
 
--@SFUClan--