Monday, February 5, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  The Simon Fraser men’s basketball team claimed GNAC Team of the Week honors with two big road wins, including a massive victory over No. 7 Saint Martin’s last Saturday.

The Red Leafs opened their week on the road with an overtime thriller at Western Oregon, taking down the Wolves 88-87 in Monmouth on Thursday before taking possibly their biggest win of the season with a 74-72 decision over the Saints in Lacey. The two wins improved SFU to 3-8 in conference play (5-17 overall) and delivered the program its first team of the week honors since the 2018-19 season.

“It’s a nice honor to be named GNAC Team of the Week,” head coach Steve Hanson said. “Our conference is extremely tough and our team had to really grind out two wins against quality opponents in front of tough crowds both nights. Erick Beckett’s buzzer-beater to force overtime on Thursday, followed up by Elliot [Dimaculangan’s] two clutch free throws for the win in Monmouth was certainly an emotional one.”

Simon Fraser pulled off a come-from-behind win on Thursday that was led by a trio of 20-point performers. Senior guard David Penney led the way on 21 points while shooting 66.7% from the field followed by 20-point games from junior guard Dimaculangan and sophomore forward Zach Stone. The three big performances lifted SFU from a 10-point deficit late in the second half, sending the game to overtime with just three-tenths of a second remaining in regulation. All three players also came through, combining for eight points, to edge past the Wolves in extra time.

In addition to his offensive production, Stone was the top rebounding player for the Red Leafs, notching nine boards to narrowly miss out on a double-double. Penney and Dimaculangan were two of the driving playmakers for SFU, finishing the night with five and six assists, respectively, on a night where five players finished with double-digit points. The trio also combined for all six of the Red Leafs’ steals with Stone’s three pacing the team.

It was another total team performance that lifted Simon Fraser to victory over the No. 7 Saints as the Red Leafs shot 50% from the field and limited SMU’s potent offense to just 72 points (12.8 below the team’s average) and 39.3% shooting from the field.

“At Saint Martin’s, you have to bring you’re ‘A-Game’ and, although we struggled offensively early, our defense kept us in the game,” Hanson said of Saturday’s game. ”We were far from perfect, but we had many guys step up Saturday night for a great team win. Our goal is to be playing our best basketball in February and March and that still remains our focus.”

 Sophomore guard/forward Immanuel Oludele and junior guard Beckett led the offense on Saturday as both finished with a season-high 16 points which also marked a career-high for Beckett. Oludele picked up five rebounds, a block and a steal while Beckett shot 75% from the field.

Penney capped off the week by notching 14 points, five rebounds and led the team with four assists to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. Freshman guard Irish Coquia made it four Simon Fraser players in the double digits with 13 points while shooting 50% from both the field and three-point range. Coquia also finished the night with two rebounds and a block in 19 minutes off the bench.

Simon Fraser will be back in action on the mountain for another pair of important games this week as it hosts first-place Montana State Billings on Thursday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday in Burnaby.