Sango Niang put up huge career numbers for the still struggling Simon Fraser University men’s basketball team.
Niang, who leads the NCAA Division II Great Northwest conference in overall points, scored a career-best 46 points in the Clan’s 104-95 road loss to Central Washington on Saturday.
The loss was SFU’s sixth in a row and comes on the heels of a 107-103 defeat to Northwest Nazarene earlier in the road swing, when Niang led all scorers with 25 points.
“When you get into losing slumps like this, each individual needs to hold themselves high and play with pride,” said SFU head coach James Blake in a Clan press release.
Niang is certainly one of those Clan players.
The senior Clan point guard currently leads the conference with 369 total points, nearly 100 more than second-place junior Andy Avgi of Western Oregon, who has played two more games than Niang.
Niang has tallied 132 field goals, including 37 three-pointers, while averaging a chart-topping 24-plus points per game. He also leads the Great Northwest in steals and assists, including almost 110 thefts so far. His assists-to-turnover ratio is also tops in the conference.
“After nights like this, I will get double-teamed and I need my teammates to make the open shots, because I will find them in those situations,” he said.
The Clan returns home for a four-game stand in the West Gym, including Saturday’s conference matchup against Saint Martin’s University, beginning at 7 p.m.
