To the SFU Men's Basketball Family,
Happy Holidays to all of our supporters and basketball fans! We had a terrific start to non-conference play with two home wins over Lindenwood University from St. Charles, Missouri. Our first win saw junior forward JJ Pankratz (Abbotsford, BC) go for 24 pts and 9 rebs on 10/16 from the field and freshman point guard Michael Provenzano held Lindenwood's star guard LJ McIntosh to just 5 pts (just 2 of 6 from the field) while going for 12 pts, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Red shirt freshman Graham Miller (Coquitlam, BC) had 18 pts and 4 rebounds and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the charity stripe. Saturday's game was a 2:00 PM tip-off where both teams started off slow and it was obvious this game would come down to the final seconds and it did just that. With some clutch play from reserves Hidde Vos (Barendrecht, Netherlands) and Andrew Williamson (Sydney, Australia) down the stretch, we held on to a 73-72 victory. Michael Provenzano and Tyrell Lewin led us with 14 pts each. Although we were happy with the two wins, we lost starting SG Kedar Wright midway through Friday's game with a shoulder separation at the AC joint. Kedar is working hard to rejoin the line up in late December.
We travelled to Riverside, California to play at California Baptist during US Thanksgiving. It was great to see how CBU runs a first-class tournament and to take on the #3 nationally-ranked team in their own house. We came out flying early causing several turnovers in the first 10 minutes and we were up twice by 7 points until giving up a 22-2 run to finish the half. We couldn't overcome that run and CBU punished our young team in the second half with a 95-60 loss. CBU's depth at every position was evident and it was good for us to see how a top ranked team competes and plays together for 40 minutes.
We returned home to prepare for our first two conference games of the season against perennial power Seattle Pacific University and St. Martin's University. After probably our worst start of the season, we fell 88-66 to SPU in Seattle. We had to recover quickly after that loss and head to Lacey, WA to prepare for a strong Saints team and their 7'0, 305 lbs Center, Fred Jorg. Our team came out aggressively and held a 5 pt lead half way through the 1st half, but we trailed 41-36 at intermission. The second half was back and forth but we continued to foul and were edged slightly in FG%, FT% and Rebounding margin and fell 86-72. We have not been able to put a solid 40 minutes together since our Lindenwood games. Our inability to get to the FT line seems to be an issue right now and we are trying to find ways to put our opponent's best players in foul trouble. Kedar Wright still leads our team in FT attempts and he has not played the last five games.
We are now in exams! After our two week exam period is completed, we travel to Las Vegas on December 17 to play in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic. We play two of the toughest teams in Texas - #11 ranked Angelo State and #15 Tarelton State who made the Elite 8 last year. These two games will really prepare us for two huge conference games when we return from Christmas break when we host Montana State-Billings (December 29th) and #13 nationally-ranked Western Washington (December 30th) who are having a fantastic season. National Rankings - We look forward to the challenge!
Happy Holidays to you and your family,
Steve Hanson
Alumni Giving Back to SFU Men's Basketball
Special thanks to '98 Alumnus Sean Ramjagsingh - The Rammer - who is an executive and producer at Electronic Arts (EA) here in Burnaby, BC. Sean took time out his busy schedule to host our entire team last Monday and give us the grand tour of the EA facility, it's offices, meeting rooms, production studios.....the full meal deal! We have three Computing Science Majors, but it's also interesting to see how many different types of carreers EA has to offer. Sean is the producer of EA's NHL franchise and his tour opened the eyes of our team and what can be accomplished with a SFU degree, great people skills and a dedication to his craft. Sean spoke to our team about the importance of a team-first attitude in the workplace and how basketball prepared him for the team dynamics of the workplace.
Thank you Sean!
Special thanks to Alumni Novell Thomas, Sean O'Brien and Michael McIssac for supporting our annual SFU Men's Basketball Posters for the season! These three proud alums donated to our program and supported the poster project which will give our young fans a keepsake at every home game. Thank you Novell, Sean and Mike for your support!
Can you pick out any of the young bucks below?
Upcoming Games - Holiday Schedule
On the Road: Tarleton & Angelo State in Las Vegas, Sunday, December 18 & Monday, December 19
At Home: MSU-B & Western Washington, Friday, December 29 & Saturday, December 30
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FOR OUR FULL GAME SCHEDULE HERE
Thank You - Farewell to Derek Hansen
Long time Athletic Performance Coach, Derek Hansen, has left SFU to pursue other goals after 14 years as Strength & Conditioning Coordinator on the Hill. SFU Men's Basketball wants to thank Derek for his work with our team this past year and providing a great foundation of strength and athleticism for our guys. Many athletes, past and present, have benefited from Derek's knowledge and guidance over the years. Best of luck to Derek!
Motivation - Dr. David Cox Speaks with Our Men's & Women's teams
Dr. David Cox, world renown Sports Psychologist and Associate Professor at SFU, met with the Men's & Women's Basketball teams this past Wednesday. It was exciting to see the passion and knowledge Dr. Cox has for high performance sport. All of our athletes and coaches were intrigued for two hours as he shared stories of working with Olympic champions, BC's Steve Nash and SFU's very own Jay Triano.
Thank you Dr. Cox and we are excited to work with you in the very near future!
COMMUNITY
