BURNABY – SFU set an NCAA-era record with 13 blocks but dropped its Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener to Western Washington 75-61 Saturday night before 558 fans in the West Gym.
 
SFU led early but the Vikings took their first lead 18-16 with just over seven minutes left in the first half and never trailed again, building a 36-23 advantage at the break and bringing home its sixth win over the season. SFU is now 3-4 overall.
 
Down by as many as 23 points in the second half, SFU pulled to within 10 points with five minutes to play but that's as close as it would get.
 
"We didn't play with a lot of offensive confidence today," said SFU coach Steve Hanson. "We are still figuring out who's going to be our scorers. It was nice to see David (Penney) step up in the second half but we are not going to beat many teams scoring in the 60s. This team is capable of scoring in the 80s."
 
SFU has now scored 63, 61, 62, and 61 points in four of five games against NCAA opponents. The Red Leafs did hang 97 points on Cal Poly Humboldt in the second game of the season.
 
David Penney led the Red Leafs with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, going 3-of-5 on threes. Nigel Hylton added 15 points (7-of-11) and grabbed six rebounds. Elliot Dimaculangan chipped in with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting as SFU shot 42.6 percent from the field.
 
SFU held the Vikings to 18 points below its season average as WWU came into the game averaging 95 ppg. SFU was excellent at contesting shots and had 13 blocks in the game with Victor Radocaj registering six to go along with six rebounds and Jahmal Wright swatting four while pulling down eight boards.
 

SFU set the record for blocks in a game with 11 against Douglas College earlier this season.
 
WWU scored 38 points off 18 Red Leaf turnovers and four players scored in double figures.
 
SFU has added a game against New Mexico State on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, at 6 p.m. (Pacific) that will air on ESPN+.
 
This will mark the sixth time the two schools have played and the first time since 1997 that NM State and Simon Fraser will meet on the hardwood. The Aggies are 5-0 against SFU all-time.
 
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