By Howard Tsumura

BURNABY — The Buchanan Cup trophy made its West Gym entrance Saturday night atop Burnaby Mountain in the moments leading up to the resumption of the on-again, off-again crosstown rivalry between B.C.'s two longest mainland men's basketball schools.

Boasting the gleam of a fresh spit-shine, the spherical golden bauble, emblematic of  58 years of basketball braggadocio between Simon Fraser and UBC couldn't help but once again be viewed as a talisman to a potential new era of annual, alternating site games between the two schools.

In the end, the visiting Thunderbirds were able to parlay the effects of an early 11-point lead with an effective series of switching defences to stymie the host Red Leafs and come away with a 66-54 victory, pushing its lead in the overall series to 21-16-1.

While disappointed with the loss, new Simon Fraser head coach Barnaby Craddock's post-game thoughts jibed well within the context of the Red Leafs' team-building process, one which on Saturday saw six new players, including three pure freshmen, continue to strengthen its telepathy with four returning veterans.

 I think I feel like they're a bit more of a veteran team than us and they deserved the win tonight," said Craddock of UBC whose starting five features four fifth-year players and one fourth-year.

" I mean, it's a learning experience for us," continued Craddock, whose newcomers logged 120 of the 200 available player-minutes. "We had multiple freshmen out there. And with the change in coaching and a lot of new recruits, we're a work in progress still. Unfortunately we didn't get the W, but we look forward to the challenge in the future."

When UBC's own talented freshman Edouard Gauthier hit a three-pointer nine minutes into the game to give UBC an 18-7 lead, it not only established its first double-digit lead of the night, it seemed to have established an arm's-length advantage over the Red Leafs that would bend but never break the rest of the evening in front of a near-capacity crowd of 1,020.

The Thunderbirds would push that margin to 13 points on a three-pointer by freshman Raj Dhadda with 3:32 left in the opening half, but in a blink the Red Leafs pared it down to five points (34-29) on eight straight points by third-year transfer point guard Mikyle Malabuyoc, the former Vancouver College standout whose surge featured two triples, the last off a steal and feed from teammate Matthys Van Bylandt 2:15 from the break.

In the second half, the Red Leafs continued to reveal their resilience in explosive ways.

When UBC's Gus Goerzen hit a three-pointer to give the visitors a 15-point lead (53-38), Simon Fraser was suddenly facing a potential blow-out loss, yet the team's answer was a run that matched its first-half surge.

Rookie guard Sartaj Bhangu from Surrey's Tamanawis Secondary, nailed back-to-back threes, and freshman transfer post Roko Maric showed his mettle in battling UBC fifth-year guard/forward Tobi Akinkumni to earn two free throws, sinking them both to pull the home team to within seven points (53-46) with 8:50 remaining.

UBC, however, fresh of last week's home floor win over U SPORTS' then-No. 1-ranked, defending national champion Victoria, rode its fifth-year core on a 13-7 game-closing run.

"It's a group of new guys, it's a new coaching staff and it's going to be a process," said SFU junior guard Tate Christiansen, who finished with 11 points. "It just reminds us that if we keep the right attitude in practice, stay together as a group, play for each other, and give 100% of our effort, we're going to get there."

Malabuyoc, who transferred back to B.C. this season after beginning his university career in Ontario with the Western Mustangs, was quick to admit that the team's collective muscle memory is improving with every game and practice.

"At this stage, it's kind of the biggest thing," said Malabuyoc who scored a game-high 15 points. "Some of the guys I met, like, two months ago. So we've really had to bond, get that team chemistry going. It's something the coaches have been really emphasizing and I think it's been really better."

The Red Leafs' Maric, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound freshman who transferred back home from NCAA Division 1 South Carolina State, admitted his disappointment in not being able to beat a UBC team which features his older brother, 6-foot-8 fifth-year forward Toni Maric.

Yet Roko Maric knows that adding more heft and muscle to his frame is only going to make him bigger, faster and stronger as he continues to come back from a substantial injury suffered in September.

"Being a young, big man, I think I for sure I need to put some size on, but the beginning of the season, I unfortunately, fractured my hand," he said of an injury that took him out of the lineup for a month-plus "I am still trying to find my groove and I still have a lot to look to get back to be where I was. It's a long season. I take days like this and just build from it."

UBC was led by the 14 points and game-high seven assists of its fifth-year transfer point guard Holt Tomie.

Saturday's game was the first Buchanan Cup played at SFU since Nov. 20, 2021 when former head coach Steve Hanson helped bring the series back from a six-year absence.

On that night Simon Fraser beat UBC 90-82. Both Akinkumni and Toni Maric played for UBC in that game, but no Simon Fraser players who saw action that night remain with the current Red Leafs.

UBC won the re-match the next season 79-73.

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