BURNABY, B.C. – Led by freshmen Jimmy Zaborniak and Immanuel Oludele, the Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's basketball team won its first game at the Hoops in Hawaii Holiday Classic, presented by Outrigger Resort and Hotels, in Honolulu today over the Hawaii Pacific Sharks (4-6) by a score of 79-73. 

Zaborniak, a guard from Burnaby, B.C., scored a career-best 19 points, making seven of his nine shots from the field. He was perfect on all three attempts from behind the three-point line. The Red Leafs' leading scorer, Oludele recorded 16 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks. The guard / forward from Niagara Falls, Ont., went 5-of-12 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from long distance. 

Senior guard / forward Jahmal Wright (Toronto) grabbed six rebounds to lead SFU (4-5), while sophomore guard Elliot Dimaculangan (Mississauga, Ont.) and freshman forward Zach Stone (Ottawa) contributed five each. Junior guard David Penney had five assists, while Dimaculangan had four, and four steals.

"I was extremely happy with our compete level today," said SFU head coach Steve Hanson. "Our guys created a lot of good offensive opportunities from the defensive end. However, we need to be better taking care of the ball – we left a lot of fast-break opportunities on the shelf from turning it over after creating one. Marquis Moore was a load to handle all night, but our outside shooting was the difference, going 48 per cent from the three-point line. Both Georges and Jamal competed well on the offensive glass and gave us some crucial put-backs and extra possessions down the stretch. We look forward to another tough opponent tomorrow in St. Edward's."

A Marquis Moore jump shot with just under seven minutes left in regulation got the Sharks to within two points, 67-65, of Simon Fraser. They were two of Moore's game-high 30 points; he also grabbed eight rebounds.

Penney responded with a jumper on the next possession before a Wright steal and a dunk from sophomore forward Georges Lefebrve with just over five minutes on the clock increased the advantage to 71-65. Oludele stole the ball back from HPU, which eventually led to a pair of successful Lefebrve free throws to make the score 73-65.

The Sharks answered back with five points in a row but could not get any closer. Dimaculangan converted a put-back layup with less than two minutes to go, and Wright stretched the Red Leafs' edge to 77-71 on a basket with 53 seconds left. The teams traded foul shots to close out the scoring at 79-73.

HPU trailed just 37-31 late in the first half. SFU then replied with a 14-4 run that bridged the two halves to hold its biggest lead of the contest at 51-35. The Red Leafs scored six of the final eight points of the opening period to go up 43-33 at the break. The surge continued after the re-start with a Wright offensive rebound and put-back, before it was capped off by back-to-back three-point baskets by Dimaculangan and Oludele.
 

SFU got off to a slow start, and trailed 9-4 early in the game, but rebounded to lead 17-16 on a Zaborniak layup. Neither side was ahead by more than two possessions after that until two Lefebrve foul shots with about six minutes left before the half increased the margin  for Canada's NCAA team to 34-26.
 
The Red Leafs had an impressive shooting night, making 50.9 per cent (29-57) of their field goal attempts. They shot 47.6 per cent (10-21) on three-pointers, and 73.3 per cent (11-15) on free throws. 

HPU was 27 of 57 (47.4 per cent) in its field-goal shooting, but SFU held the Sharks to just 27.8 per cent (5-18) efficiency on attempts from beyond the three-point arc. 

The Red Leafs won the battle in rebounds 35-29 and bench points 39-29.

They will face St. Edward's (Texas) Sunday at 10 p.m. PT at the Hawaii Convention Center. The next home dates for SFU are Jan. 5 and 7. 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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