What We Have Learned this Season
Our season ended with a win over Seattle Pacific University 93-82 on Seniors' Night on February 25th. It was an emotional victory, not only slugging it out with a team that beat us 88-66 in the first week of the season, but also knocking SPU out of the playoffs for the first time in twelve seasons. It showed how much our team has improved and how much our players wanted to win for our graduating Seniors - Hidde Vos and Gibran Sewani. We were playing our best basketball the last four weeks of the season beating Western Oregon 68-63 in our West Gym White Out game after losing a controversial heart-breaker 74-73 to Concordia two nights earlier. Competing each and every practice is something our young players have learned and ultimately translated into quality basketball in January and February. We are a much different program because of this process and the success our youth had late in the season.
With geographical rival Western Washington University from Bellingham earning the only GNAC berth to the West Regional tournament, our team understands how hard it is to make the NCAA tournament. It takes talent, senior leadership and playoff experience to the take the next step. Our team also understands that change has to occur between April and September in their physical and mental preparation to the season. With our top scorers and leading rebounders all back for 2017-18, we are looking to add more size and depth throughout the roster, but also understand we are another year stronger and wiser with our current players. Our team is up for the challenge and we expect a stronger start to the 2017-18 season. It's exciting that our players want the bar raised and we are going to push them to get there.
We are extremely proud of our academic success this year including the highest Men's Basketball GPA since we joined the NCAA in 2011. Our message will always be consistent - BE GREAT IN THE CLASSROOM, BE GREAT ON THE COURT, BE GREAT IN THE COMMUNITY. Recruiting student-athletes that are expected and "want to" graduate from a world-class university, translates in everything our team does on and off the court.
Regards,
West Gym Whiteout vs. Western Oregon
SFU takes down Western Oregon 68-63 before 1,000 fans at Whiteout
To the delight of a raucous crowd at the West Gym Whiteout, the SFU Clan men's basketball team came away with their first GNAC win of the year on Saturday night before 1,000 fans, outworking the Western Oregon Wolves (13-11, 10-6) en route to a 68-63 triumph.Both Kedar Wright (19 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, two steals, two assists) and Iziah Sherman-Newsome (17 points, 11 rebounds, and a steal) came away with double-doubles amidst dominant performances, while guard Michael Provenzano notched 11 of his 12 points in the second half, seven of which came in the game's final three minutes.
SENIOR NIGHT > Big win over Seattle Pacific 93-82
Our final game of the season celebrated Seniors Gibran Sewani and Hidde Vos time with SFU. Both players were big leaders for our program on and off the court. For Gibran, who was able to share the moment with his mother Shelina, it was time to reminisce about all he had been through in his five years at SFU, three different coaches and looking forward to completing his degree this year. For Hidde, who was selected team captain this season and for his family back in the Netherlands, things came full circle. From playing in Spain to one year at Cal State Fullerton, Hidde has seen a lot. To complete the journey with a big win in front of the home crowd, surrounded by friends and teammates was priceless. It was an emotional post-game for both these guys - it showed how much the process has to meant to them. Both players were presented a framed SFU jersey with an action photograph pre-game.
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY > Wednesday, April 11th
Wednesday, April 11th is National Signing Day where high school seniors sign their NLI (National Letter of Intent). Our program has three verbal commits that will sign NLI's and we expect two more signees by the end of April. This is an exciting time for high school seniors as all the hours of hard work culminate to this moment. We have some outstanding student-athletes with a high ceiling. Check out SFU_MBB on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook as these athletes are announced this month!
CELEBRATING SUCCESS
KEDAR WRIGHT > GNAC All-Academic Team with 3.75 GPA
As I mentioned earlier, our work in the classroom was outstanding highlighted by Kedar Wright making the GNAC All-Academic this season. Furthermore, we had 4 other students above 3.0, 3 students above 3.2 and one above 3.5. Keep in mind SFU was ranked in the Top 10 "Hardest to get an A" in North America - a list that included MIT, Harvard, Boston College and
SFU ATHLETIC AWARDS GALA 2017 > Hard Rock Casino - April
THE TEAM BEFORE DINNER > Family
GIBRAN, MIKE & OTH > Celebrating Mike's Freshman Athlete of the Year Award
PG Michael Provenzano was recognized as SFU's Male "Freshman Athlete of the Year" for an excellent season where he averaged 12.9 points, 4 assists, 31 mins and a team-leading FT% of 85 this season.
Seniors > Gibran, WBB's Ellen Kett & Hidde modelling their SFU Senior Swarves
COMMUNITY
