Scheduled Game: @Simon Fraser- CW Playoffs

84

GAME RESULTS 1 2 T Trinity Western University 41 43 84 SFU Clan 54 35 89 « FINAL

89

Game Recap

Men's Basketball (Play-offs)
Saturday, February 17, 2001
TWU Spartans (84) vs the Simon Fraser University Clan (89)

Spartan Season Ends with Mountain Top Thriller

Langley, British Columbia - The Simon Fraser University Clan is moving on to the Canada West semi finals after a thrilling 89-84 victory over the Trinity Western University Spartans in Saturday night's men's basketball game in Burnaby, BC. The win gave the Clan a 2-0 series victory and gives them a trip to Edmonton, AB to face the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

The Clan did what ever they wanted on offense, for the first 30 minutes of the game and went into the final 10 minutes of the game with a 17 point lead, 74-57.

"At half time we told the guys that success in this game was going to be whether we left our guts on the floor," said Peters. "If at the end of the half we could say we did, then the game would be a success."

Even with the 17-point deficit the Spartans would not go quietly into the night.

Trinity Western started switching defenses and they were finally able to confuse the Clan offense. Spurred on by their defensive success Josh Hall (4th yr, G, Abbotsford, BC) - 30 points, led the Spartans on a 19-2 run to tie the game at 76-76 with 3:30 to go.

"The big thing that caused the turn around for us was that their shooters started hesitating and they started missing," said Peters. "We threw a junk defense at them and they could not figure it out, then we carried the defense momentum into our offense, which really took off."

"I knew that as soon as we could make a couple of back to back stops that we were going to get back in the game. It was just a matter of getting the stops and converting," added Peters

After only scoring 2 points in 7 ½ minutes the Clan finally got their shooting touch back. Brent Charlten (1st yr, F, North Vancouver, BC) - 19 points, hit a runner that circled the rim to give the Clan a 2 point lead, 78-76 with 3 minutes remaining.

The Spartans responded as Ben Bauman (3rd yr, P, Chilliwack, BC) - 14 points, 5 rebounds, took a pass from Brian Redekop (1st yr, F, Abbotsford, BC) - 4 points, 3 assists, to tie the game. Baumnan's subsequent free throw gave the Spartans their first lead of the game 79-78 with 2:42 remaining. It was to be the only lead that the Spartans would have all evening.

"Ben has really stepped up his game over the past three weeks," said Peters. "You look what he is doing offensively, it is unbelievable, he has really grasped our offense."

Kevin Bryan (4th yr, G, Calgary, AB) - 9 points, hit two free throws to give the Clan a 2 point lead with 1:37 remaining.

Seventeen seconds later TWU's Josh Hall converted 1 of 2 free throws to pull the Spartans within one. Bryan responded once again for the Clan to give them a 3 point lead with less then a minute remaining in the game, 85-82.

With 30 seconds remaining the Clan's Emmy Unaegbu (1st yr, G, Port Coquitlam, BC) - 8 points, 6 rebounds, stole the ball from the Spartans. After the turnover the Spartans were forced to foul. Jeff Antwi (3rd yr, G, Port Coquitlam, BC) - 15 points, 4 rebounds, then went to the line and hit two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to give the Clan a 5-point lead.

"Down the stretch the one turnover was the killer in the comeback, but that's one turnover," said Peters. "Compared with the effort we put out it did not mean anything. We could have easily folded."

After a Josh Hall miss the Spartans put Jordan Mason (2nd yr, G, Vancouver, BC) - 16 points, on the line for two more free throws. Mason hit both with 4 seconds remaining giving the Clan a 7 point lead, 89-82.

David Martens (2nd yr, G, Abbotsford, BC) - 6 points, hit a lay-up as the final buzzer was sounding to make the final 89-84.

This has been a season of firsts for the Spartans, but the most import lesson that the Spartans will take away from this season is what it feels like to play in the Canada West Play-offs.

"There is so many firsts this year. We doubled our win total over last season, we accomplished our goal of making the play-offs and we were able to learn what play-off intensity is all about. I am really proud of what the kids have been able to accomplish," said Peters. "This will be a real motivator for us over the off-season. We will not forget this very quickly."

The Spartans finish the season with an overall record of 15-21, with a record of 0-2 in the play-offs, 8-14 in league play.

-TW-

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