BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's basketball team continues to get massive contributions from members of its impressive freshmen class.
 
Rookies Nigel Hylton and Immanuel Oludele combined for 37 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals to lead SFU (2-1) to a 101-55 non-conference win over visiting Okanagan College Friday night at the West Gym in Burnaby, B.C. The result didn't count in the regular-season record for the Coyotes, who are members of the PACWEST Conference of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.  
 
Forward Hylton (Toronto) recorded 20 points and nine rebounds for the Red Leafs, making eight of his 15 shots from the field. Oludele, a guard / forward from Niagara Falls, Ont., converted a team-best three baskets from behind the three-point line, and threw down a couple of big slam dunks as part of a 17-point performance. They both had four steals.
 

Coming off the bench, redshirt freshman Zach Stone had 18 points, eight rebounds, and a pair of blocks. The forward from Ottawa also had a couple of three-point shots.
 
Senior guard / forward Jahmal Wright from Toronto and junior guard David Penney of Guelph, Ont., contributed 15 and 14 points to the SFU cause Friday. Penney had six assists to lead the Red Leafs. Sophomore guard Elliot Dimaculangan (Mississauga, Ont.) had a team-high 10 rebounds and five assists.

The home team had 19 steals and forced 25 turnovers overall. Thirty-two of SFU's points came off the turnovers it created. The Red Leafs outscored the visitors 56-18 in the paint and had a 32-7 advantage in fast-break points.
 
SFU overcame a strong start by Okanagan, as the Coyotes jumped out to a 10-5 lead on a Zach Dawkins basket about five minutes into the contest. Oludele started 10-0 run in the middle of the half with a dunk and one. He then hit a triple and added a layup midway through the half before another true freshman, guard Jimmy Zaborniak of Burnaby, B.C., put SFU up 22-15 with a pair of free throws.
 
From there, the hosts continued to build on their lead. Oludele hit a three with about five minutes left before halftime to stretch the gap to 30-20.
 
Then Wright finished off the first half with a steal and a buzzer-beating basket launched from his own three-point line in front of the SFU bench. It erupted along with the West Gym crowd when the ball bounced off the backboard and down off the rim. The Red Leafs went into the break up by a score of 45-27.
 

Despite being short-handed due to injuries, SFU didn't allow Okanagan to build any big runs in the second half. Wright's fast-break layup before the midway mark of the second half pushed the lead to 31 points. Then Stone grabbed three offensive rebounds before making a layup to increase the advantage to 90-51 with just over five minutes to go.
 

SFU shot 48.1 per cent from the field Friday, making 39 of its 81 attempts. The team was successful on 31.4 per cent (11-35) of its three-point opportunities, and on 12 of 16 free throws (75 per cent).
 
In the same categories, Okanagan went 20 of 54 (37 per cent), 8 of 27 (29.6 per cent) and 7 of 15 (46.7 per cent).
 
The Red Leafs will wrap up the weekend with a Saturday non-conference matchup against the Douglas College Royals at 7 p.m., with local band Savage Groove performing before the game, at halftime, and after the final whistle.

Season tickets for SFU men's basketball are now on sale at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sfu-mens-basketball-season-pass-2022-23-tickets-450926331797

Single-game tickets links are at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/sfu-athletics-17612353468

For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.
 
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