Billings, MT – The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team was unable to bounce-back from a one-game losing streak, falling 85-78 against Montana State University – Billings Thursday night.
 

The Yellowjackets, who were playing with a reduced bench of eight active players, limited the Clan's running game, keeping the NCAA Division II scoring leaders to their second-lowest point total of the season.
 

"That was a gut check game for us and we did not play well enough to beat a resilient MSUB team playing with only eight players," said head coach James Blake. "To say I'm disappointed with this opportunity to move forward in our season is an understatement."
 

The first period played out quite evenly as both teams traded the lead several times with no clear leader emerging.
 

Down 32-26, Hidde Vos hit three consecutive three-pointers for SFU to propel the visitors and brought the team within one-point with four minutes remaining.
 

A 12-to-6 run for the Yellowjackets to close the half, however, put the momentum back in the home side's favour as the Clan trailed seven points at the half, 48-41.
 

"Hidde played well tonight and kept us in the game in the first half," Blake continued. "They took us completely out of our running game and we were not able to capitalize on turning them over 18 times."
 

In the second half SFU was unable to regain the lead, falling to a game-high 15 point deficit with 13 minutes remaining in the game.
 

The Clan were not prepared to give up, however, as upperclassmen Sango Niang, Justin Cole, Roderick Evans-Taylor and Michael Harper brought the team within striking distance at a score of 76-75 with 2:02 left on the clock.
 

Despite SFU's best efforts Montana was able to hang on for the win, taking the game 85-78, and dealing the Clan their second-consecutive loss.
 

Simon Fraser falls to 8-12 overall and 3-9 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while MSUB improve to 3-9 in conference action.
 

Sango Niang had 26 points and five assists on the night while Roderick Evans-Taylor added 15 points.
 

Hidde Vos and Justin Cole had 12 points each, Vos shooting 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, and Cole adding two blocks and four steals to the Clan's campaign.
 

SFU continues their road swing Saturday afternoon as they travel to Seattle, WA to take on Seattle Pacific, who rank fourth in the GNAC.
 

Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and fans can follow live at portal.stretchinternet.com/sfu.