BURNABY, B.C. – Simon Fraser moved into sole possession of top spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball standings with a big 75-72 home win over the Seattle Pacific Falcons Saturday.
 
SFU held a 13-point lead with about five minutes left but had to hold off an SPU rally. It was the team's second three-point victory of the week, after Tuesday's 79-76 triumph over Alaska.
 
Saturday's result at the West Gym improved SFU's GNAC record to 3-1, and its overall mark to 8-4. Saint Martin's (4-2) and Alaska Anchorage (2-1) are tied for second with a winning percentage of .667.
 
"Every experience gives us a chance to show what we know and what we can do," said SFU head coach Steve Hanson. "When the pressure's on, we have some guys who haven't played in those tight moments. Josiah (Mastandrea) and Elliot (Dimaculangan) played great all game. It was good for us to squeeze out a win, we bent a lot in those last four minutes but we didn't break."
 
Senior SFU forward Julian Roche recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds for his second-consecutive double-double. He shot an ultra-efficient 75 per cent (9 of 12) from the field with his only misses coming from behind the three-point line. Roche made all six of his free throws.
 
Senior guard Josiah Mastandrea made three triples as part of a 16-point performance off the bench. Guards Wilfried Balata and David Penney each contributed 13 points. Balata, a junior, also grabbed six rebounds, while Penney, a sophomore, dished out four assists.
 
SFU shot 51.9 per cent from the field (27 of 52), 30 per cent on three-pointers (6 of 20), and 88.2 per cent from the foul line (15 of 17).
 
Divant'e Moffitt scored 24 points for the visiting Falcons (10-8, 3-4 GNAC), while Shaw Anderson posted 19.
 
"The David (Penney) we saw tonight is the David we need every game. The pace he played with, steals at crucial times, stuff like that," remarked Hanson. "Julian (Roche) has been consistent all year, and Wilfried (Balata) had a really tough defensive assignment tonight in Moffitt. I thought he did great for 40 minutes. Our zone defence was good at times. You have to pick your poison with Seattle Pacific, they have some many great 1-on-1 players so the zone for us was key at certain times."
 

Seattle Pacific led 35-32 at the half, and scored the opening basket of the second.
 
Balata drew a foul on the next SFU trip up the floor and made his two free throws. It began a 22-6 run that gave the hosts a double-digit lead, 54-43, for the first time. The surge was capped by back-to-back steal-and-layup plays.
 
First, freshman guard Elliot Dimaculangan got the steal and fed the ball to Penney for the basket with just under 13 minutes left in the game. Then Mastandrea took the ball on the ensuing SPU possession and went in for the layup himself to make it 54-43 at 12:34.

A Moffitt dunk and foul shot with about nine minutes on the clock closed the Falcons' deficit to just 56-50.
 
SFU answered with six-straight points from Roche, the first half of a 12-5 run that gave the hosts their largest lead of the contest at 68-55. The Falcons, however, quickly got back into contention with eight-consecutive points.
 
Anderson closed the gap to just 71-68 inside two minutes when he made a three-pointer from the left wing. The Falcons then forced an SFU turnover to get a chance to tie the game. With 47.4 seconds left in regulation, Moffitt drove into the paint but SFU's Penney stepped into the lane and drew a charge. The offensive foul gave his team the ball back.
 

The dramatic moments kept coming. The teams traded turnovers, forcing the Falcons to foul. Mastandrea hit a pair of foul shots with 23.4 seconds to go. Then Moffitt made a three from in front of his bench with 10.5 seconds on the clock, and was then fouled. He finished off the rare four-point play to get SPU to within a point at 73-72.
 
Penney made two more free throws but SFU escaped with the win only when Moffitt's last-gasp, step-back three-point shot bounced off the back iron.
 
Neither team was ahead by more than six points in the first half, which featured 10 lead changes.
 
Roche made a pair of foul shots to put his team on top 23-22 less than five minutes before halftime. It was the last SFU advantage of the opening period. SPU jumped back in front with an Anderson shot from long distance, and built up a 35-29 edge in the final minute. SFU's Mastandrea rounded out the first-half scoring with a three.
 
Seattle Pacific shot 38.3 per cent (23 of 60) from the field, 28.6 per cent from distance (8 of 28) and 90 per cent (18 of 20) at the free throw line.
 
SFU's next two games are against Central Washington. The first will take place Tuesday in Ellensburg, Washington, at 4 p.m. The return match at the West Gym is Thursday at 7 p.m. SFU will round out the week on Saturday vs. Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) at 7 p.m.

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