LANGLEY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser Red Leafs know all about the powers of basketball karma.

On Friday night, they had it early as they tipped off against the Hawaii Hilo Vulcans in their opening game of the CCA Div. II Canadian Tip-Off Classic at the Langley Events Centre.

But after painting a defensive masterpiece over an opening 10 minutes in which they did not allow their U.S. visitors to score even a single point, they let their mistakes compound themselves, ultimately snowballing into a 65-57 loss in what was a key West Region matchup.

"Defensively, we were very good in the first half," said Red Leafs head coach Steve Hanson whose team led 12-0 after those first 10 minutes. "We were great on the boards, and they were not scoring. But then we let them back into the game with effort plays."

And these Vulcans were as scrappy as they come.

Hawaii Hilo trailed for the game's first 36 minutes, and didn't take the lead until 4:14 remained when reserve guard Cameron Wall hit a pair of free throws for a 50-49 lead.

From there, the Red Leafs could muster just eight points over a second half in which they were outscored 46-26.

"In the second half, we had so many missed layups," continued Hanson, whose team hit nine shots (9-of-30, 30 per cent) over the final 20 minutes. "We ran great actions that got great looks at the hoop, but when you miss bunnies, it hurts your defensive energy. And then we just continued to foul."

Hawaii Hilo's 6-foot-6 senior forward Kalique Mitchell did the most damage, scoring a game-high 21 points, nearly double his per-game average of a season ago.

Simon Fraser's starting back-court of Mississauga, Ont.'s Elliot Dimaculangan (co-game-high 21 points) and David Penney of Guelph, Ont. (15 points) combined for 36 of the team's 57 points.

SFU centre Zach Stone (Ottawa) finished with six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

While the Red Leafs managed to hold UC San Diego transfer Jake Kosakowski to just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, too many others found a way to inflict damage.

"We stayed in his pocket, but we let the other guys get to the paint at will," said Hanson, "and a lot of that lack of defensive focus resulted in a loss of momentum from all of those missed lay-ups.

"I think we missed nine gimmes at the rim in the second half, so if you want to find a way to lose, that is the way to do it."

Mitchell not only scored 21 points, he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.

SFU's Penney didn't need to be reminded that the Vulcans' 18-9 advantage in second-chance points was one of the key reasons for the home team's loss.

He pin-pointed what needs to improve as the team takes on New York's Daemen Wildcats (7 p.m.) in its second game of the weekend. Tickets: https://www.showpass.com/ncaa-division-ii-canadian-tip-off-classic

"I think honestly, if you watch us, we have to rebound better," said Penney. "We have to bring more of a presence inside. They just got us on the offensive glass when it really mattered, so we've got to go back and work on that… we gotta rebound."

The two teams produced nearly identical rebounding numbers, yet Penney's eye test correctly focused on the big plays Hawaii Hilo made on the offensive glass down the game's stretch drive.

Hanson did his best to look past the disappointment, hoping the lessons learned will impact the team's performance Saturday.

"It's good to be in a close game with two minutes left and see who can execute, and we didn't do a great job," he said. "We got a couple of late steals but then we gave it right back to them. But now we are playing a really tough team tomorrow, so we feel we have to get ready for that one now."

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