BURNABY – Northwest Nazarene forward Maurice Jones hit a free throw with a tenth of a second left to cap a dramatic second-half comeback and hand Simon Fraser University a heart-breaking 82-81 loss on home court in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game on Saturday.
The Nighthawks came back from two 12-point second half deficits to steal a victory from Simon Fraser. It was just the Clan's second loss in the West Gym this season. SFU is now 6-2 on home court, 8-6 overall and 2-4 in the GNAC.
The Clan faces conference-leading Western Washington at home in the West Gym on Tuesday, January 9 in a game that will feature an encore performance by the MEI Screaming Eagles Marching Band and free courtside haircuts. Stylists from Azzi Hair Studio, located in the Cornerstone Building on campus, will be in the West Gym offering courtesy haircuts. Fans will be able to enjoy the game and get a free haircut. Tipoff is 7PM.
NNU is 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the GNAC after Saturday's win.
NNU's final second-half comeback was capped by the game-winning free throw after SFU forward
Iziah Sherman-Newsome fouled Jones driving to the hoop. Simon Fraser had tied the game, 81-81, when it took possession of the ball with 18 seconds to go and guard
Othniel Spence drove the lane and put in a soft layup to tie the game.
But Spence's basket left 4.4 seconds on the clock. After a timeout the Nighthawks raced the length of the floor, finally getting the ball into the hands of Jones for the drive. Sherman-Newsome prevented the basket but called for the foul.
NNU had tied the game 77-77 with two minutes left, after beginning its comeback down 12 points with 9:18 to play in the game. The Nighthawks took the lead after an offensive rebound and a free throw by Jones put them up 78-77 with 1:07 left. Jones missed the second foul shot but the Nighthawks grabbed another offensive rebound and Obi Megaw converted both foul shots for a 80-77 lead.
SFU senior Kedar Salam drove the lane to score a twisting, off-balance layup to pull the Clan to within one, 80-79. NNU's Dylan Brink then went one-for-two at the line which enabled Spence to tie the game on the Clan's final possession.
SFU led 48-38 at the half but NNU pulled to within two points, 57-55, six minutes into the second half. The Clan answered with 14-2 run to push the lead back out to 12, 71-59. That set the stage for NNU's final comeback.
Kedar Salam followed a 40-point performance on Thursday against Central Washington with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and had 5 assists in 34 minutes. Senior swingman Sherman-Newsome had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while senior
JJ Pankratz had 14 points. Spence chipped in with 13.
Simon Fraser went 31-of-63 from the field, 11-of-26 on threes and got 15 points from its bench. The Clan role players out-scored the NNU bench 15-6. NNU went 30-of-60 from the field, connected on 8-of-25 threes and hit 14-of-21 free throws, none bigger than the game-winner by Jones.
Four Nighthawks reached double figures scoring led by Megwa with 27 and Jones with 24 and 11 rebounds.
Follow the SFU men's basketball team on the club's official Twitter and Instagram accounts at @SFU_MBB.
--@SFUClan--
