BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser men's basketball team improved to 6-3 on the season with a 96-44 win over visiting Douglas College Tuesday in a non-conference game at the West Gym.

SFU shot 58.5 per cent (38 of 65) from the field, and recorded 23 steals, the third-most in a single game for the program since joining the NCAA. The team outscored the Royals 62-16 in the paint, and had a 42-31 rebounding advantage.

"I thought our first-half energy was really good. Defensively, we were really active," said SFU head coach Steve Hanson, whose team held Douglas to 25.9 per cent shooting (7 of 27) in the opening 20 minutes. "Douglas is young but they have some talent, and they're going to be good in a couple of years with those young guys. This game was good for us because we knew they might play a lot of zone defence, and they zoned us right from the start so that gave us 40 minutes of zone offence."

There were many impressive individual performances, as everyone on the SFU roster got at least 14 minutes on the floor.

Senior guard/forward Jordan Lyons made nine of his 10 shots from the field and added a pair of free throws to record 20 points. He also had six assists – tied for the team best – and four rebounds.

Senior forward Julian Roche scored 16 points on seven of 10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Drew Bryson, a junior guard, poured in 15 points. Guards Josiah Mastandrea, a senior, and Wilfried Balata, a junior, each contributed 11 points.
 

David Penney's night was highlighted by seven steals, tied for the second-most in a game by an NCAA-era SFU player. The sophomore guard also dished out six assists and posted nine points.

Corez Johnson's 13 points led all Douglas players, while Ben Rabel had a game-high 12 rebounds. The Royals shot 30.5 per cent in the game (18 of 59).

Leading 11-7 early in the first half, SFU extended the gap with 12-consecutive points, beginning with a Penney jumper. He then recorded three steals. Freshman guard Hunter Cruz-Dumont's layup about eight minutes into the game put the home team up 23-7.

Less than two minutes after that, SFU began a big 22-0 run. It included five SFU steals, with the final two (Roche and Penney) sparking back-to-back, fast-break layups (Lyons and Bryson) that capped off the surge, and made the score 48-12.
 

As the first half wound down, the West Gym crowd was electrified by Cruz-Dumont, who stole the ball from Douglas on three-straight possessions, leading to SFU baskets. The first went to Lyons before Cruz-Dumont finished off the last two with slam dunks.

The hosts took a 57-17 lead into halftime and didn't allow Douglas to string together a big run in the second half.

"We have a couple of guys banged up so we had a lot of guys playing out of position, and it showed us we have some work to do as far as our 2 playing the 3, our 3 playing the 4, and our 4 playing the 5," remarked Hanson. "It will be good tape for our guys to watch to get ready for the resumption of the GNAC season."

SFU will now head into an exam and holiday break. The team's next games will be Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchups at Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) on Dec. 30 and Central Washington on New Year's Day. The next home appearances for SFU, which is 1-0 in GNAC play, will take place Jan. 6 and 8 at the West Gym.

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