BURNABY, BC---
 
The Simon Fraser Men's Basketball team fell to the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks by a final score of 74-71 on Thursday Night in the West Gym.
 
Heading into the opening matchup of 2020, Simon Fraser was second in the GNAC in scoring with 84.1 points per game and fifth in rebounding at 35.9 per game. The Clan was also second in Division II in fewest turnovers with 95, fourth in both turnovers per game (9.5) and turnover margin (8.2) and eighth in steals per game (10.9).
 
For Northwest Nazarene, the trip north of the border was their first game in almost a month, as they dropped a 77-68 decision to Seattle Pacific back on December 7^th. Up to this point, the Nighthawks led the GNAC in field goal percentage defense at (.421), and were third in total scoring.
 
It was a difficult start for SFU, as the home team struggled early on and found themselves down 12-2. Simon Fraser would eventually find their shooting touch, and after a series of made three-point shots, SFU was back within striking distance at 23-18 with 11 minutes left in the first half. 
 
Northwest Nazarene held strong after the mid-quarter Simon Fraser rally however, and by the time there was just two minutes left in the half, the visitors were back on top by ten at 43-33. NNU closed out the final two minutes strongly as well, and at halftime, the visitors held a convincing lead at 49-36. 
 
Northwest Nazarene shot 51.4% from the field in the first half and were led by Alley Ezekiel with 16 points. Simon Fraser, meanwhile, shot just 33.3% from the field and were led by Othniel Spence with 9 points, Julian Roche added 6 rebounds.
 
Simon Fraser came out a determined team in the second half, and focused the majority of their offensive efforts down low in the paint. Although Simon Fraser struggled to close the lead in the opening stages of the second half, the physical offensive strategy slowly worked away at NNU's interior defense. Approaching the mid-way point of the second half, two fast break baskets in quick succession by Simon Fraser cut the visitors lead down to just 4 points, with the score 61-57. 
 
Feeling the momentum on their side, Simon Fraser added a Michael Hannan three-pointer followed by a Michael Provenzano floater soon afterwards, and with Provenzano's shot, SFU took their first lead of the night at 62-61. 
 
The game remained tightly contested from there on out, and after NNU briefly reclaimed the lead, Jasdeep Singh sunk three straight free-throws to tie the score back up at 71 with under 2 minutes remaining.
 
Unfortunately for SFU, they were unable to sink another shot from the field inside the last two minutes of play, and with the clock winding down, NNU's Jayden Bezzant sunk a deep three pointer to take the lead at 74-71 with 10 seconds left. Jasdeep Singh's last-ditch effort to tie the game fell short of the basket, and Northwest Nazarene held on for their first Conference win of the season. 
 
Leading the way for SFU was Michael Provenzano with 16 points and 5 assists. Othniel Spence added 15 points and 4 rebounds, while Julian Roche had 10 rebounds. For NNU, Ezekiel Alley led his team with 16 points. NNU also enjoyed better bench scoring, topping SFU 21 to 12 in that category. 
 
Head Coach Steve Hanson added his thoughts in the loss: "NNU deserved to win tonight. They played harder and played like a 5-man unit. We did not. Again, we played hard to come back after another large deficit, but there is no excuse for our lack of hunger to start games. We need to be better, starting at practice tomorrow and preparing for CWU."
 
Up next, Simon Fraser takes on Central Washington University on Saturday January 4^th in the West Gym at 7PM.