Scheduled Game: @Simon Fraser*

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 T Trinity Western 31 40 71 Simon Fraser 44 43 87 « FINAL

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Game Recap

Men’s Basketball (Canada West)
Thursday, February 01, 2007
TWU Spartans (71) at the Simon Fraser University Clan (87)

SPARTANS FALL TO CLAN
-TWU falls two behind SFU

BURNABY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western University men’s basketball team fell to the the Simon Fraser University Clan 87-71 Thursday night on top of Burnaby Mountain. Despite being down by 16 points early in the first half the Spartans made a valiant run and managed to close to within seven points early in the second half, but were unable to get any closer. The loss drops TWU to 8-13, while SFU improves to 10-11.
 
Before the game, both fifth-year senior Aaron Christensen (Pitt Meadows, B.C.) and fourth-year senior Alex MacIver (Orillia, Ont.) were honoured in a small ceremony, which undoubtedly sparked the Clan, who opened the game on an 11-0 run. MacIver scored a three-pointer to put the game at 7-0, while Christensen scored four points during that stretch. SFU continued to pull away, extending their lead to 19-3, before TWU began to rally.
 
Over the next five minutes, the Spartans, behind an aggressive press defence and up-tempo offence, closed to within ten points (30-20) with just over six minutes to go in the first half. The teams then traded buckets to close the half, and SFU took a 44-31 lead into the break.
 
Out of the half, Trinity began contesting every Clan possession, forcing turnovers and difficult shots by Simon Fraser to close the gap to seven points (50-43) off a 12-6 run. Momentum for both teams stalled however as TWU’s Trevor Nerdahl and SFU’s Nolan Holmes were ejected when a shoving match occurred under the Trinity net after Luke Robinson made a lay-up and was fouled.
 
When the dust settled, SFU once again began to run away with the contest, stretching their lead to 17 points (78-51) after Christensen scored back-to-back baseline lay-ups. With 3:09 remaining, Christensen and MacIver subbed out of the game, earning both a standing ovation from the crowd. Both teams’ subs closed out the game, with the Clan coming out on top 87-71.
 
Christensen, who led the Clan with 26 points and 12 rebounds, shot 10-for-17 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line for his 26 points, while adding 12 boards. The Clan out rebounded TWU 47-to-25 and shot 55.5 per cent from the field. Kevin Shaw (North Vancouver, B.C.) added 12 points for the Clan, while MacIver closed with eight, including two three-pointers. Sean Burke (North Vancouver, B.C.) netted ten points and seven assists.
 
For the Spartans, Luke Robinson (Ahousat, B.C.) led his team with 13 points, hitting 4-of-7 field goals, adding four assists with Drew Slaght (Coquitlam, B.C.) adding 11 points and four rebounds. The Spartans scored 30 points off 22 Clan turnovers, however were outscored 18-to-10 in the paint.
 
The two teams will face off tomorrow night, at TWU game time is set for 8 pm. The game will be available on Spartan Web Radio, at www.gospartans.ca. Live stats will also be available off of TWU’s web site.

-TW-

- Contributions from SFU Sports Information.

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