CARSON, Calif. – The Simon Fraser men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday night, a 63-59 setback at the hands of Humboldt State (Calif.) at the CCAA/GNAC Challenge in Carson, California.

Senior forward Jasdeep Singh poured in 18 points to lead SFU (1-1). Julian Roche, a senior forward, recorded 14 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Jordan Lyons, a senior guard/forward, had a 10-point, five-rebound performance in 23 minutes off the bench.

Singh scored a layup with just over a minute and a half left in regulation to cut SFU's deficit to just 61-59. The team then forced a Lumberjacks' turnover but couldn't take advantage after a missed three, an offensive rebound and a subsequent turnover of its own.
 
SFU got another defensive stop with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game. The ensuing possession resulted in a missed jumper, but a team offensive rebound provided a second opportunity that ended in a trip to the foul line. A miss on the front end of the 1-and-1 was the final offensive chance for SFU. Humboldt added a pair of free throws to finish off the scoring.

The Canadian side led 34-32 at halftime.

A couple of foul shots from sophomore guard David Penney, and layups from Roche and Singh in the first couple of minutes of the second half extended that advantage to 40-34. The Lumberjacks responded with a 10-0 run to go ahead 44-40. The game went back and forth for the next couple of minutes with the last tie being at 54-54 during that span on a Roche lay-up with 6:19 on the clock. Humboldt State then posted the next five points to claim a 59-54 edge. A Singh triple closed the gap to 59-57.
 

SFU trailed 21-11 midway through the opening half, but nine-consecutive points brought the team to within a point. Freshman guard Elliot Dimaculangan started the run with a foul shot, before layups came from Roche and junior guard Drew Bryson. Singh capped off the run with back-to-back layups.

A couple of Penney free throws with 4:33 to go in the half allowed SFU to re-take the advantage, 25-24. The teams traded the lead four more times before the half.
 
SFU shot 38.6 per cent from the field, making 22 of 57 attempts. It was successful on 4 of 18 (22.2 per cent) opportunities from behind the three-point line, and on 11 of 18 foul shots (61.1 per cent).
 
The team had a 15-7 advantage in assists, and committed just 12 turnovers compared to HSU's 18.
 
SFU will face California State Los Angeles Monday at 7 p.m. in a non-conference matchup before returning home. The team will then host The SFU Showdown Nov. 19-21 at the West Gym. SFU will battle Central Washington Friday at 7 p.m. (link to tickets), before hosting a Buchanan Cup rivalry game against UBC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (link to tickets).
 

Basketball returns to West Gym November 19-21! @sfu_mbb hosts UBC, Central Washington, Capilano and Langara for the SFU Showdown!

???Tickets available online: https://t.co/YLVZvhwxYa
??? Live streams available for all games: https://t.co/mVlUqPOD8V#RepTheLeaf ?? #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/UGA5aOvCzF

— SFU Athletics (@sfu_athletics) November 9, 2021

A great showcase of local basketball, The SFU Showdown will also see Central Washington take on Langara (Saturday) and Capilano (Sunday).

- With files from Humboldt State Athletics

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