The Simon Fraser University men's basketball team missed a chance to climb out of the Great Northwest conference cellar with an untimely split with Alaska schools.
The Clan opened with a 70-60 victory over third-place University of Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, after narrowly falling 65-64 to Alaska Anchorage two days earlier.
"We played a really good game. We thought we had the win until the very end and it came down to who wanted it more in those seconds. It was a tough ball game and it just got away from us," said senior SFU forward Ibrahim Appiah in a school press release.
The Anchorage Seawolves took their first lead of the game with just under 15 minutes left to play, but the score remained within a basket through the final seven minutes of the game.
SFU guard Justin Cole put the Clan ahead 64-63 with a layup in the final two minutes. The Seawolves got back the lead, leaving only four seconds on the clock.
Cole led SFU in scoring with 18 points, while Appiah recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor Dunn and David Gebru also scored in double figures, chipping in with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
On Saturday, Cole was one of five Clan players to score in double digits.
"We knew we had to bounce back and start hard defensively, and that was carried out through the rest of the game," said Cole in a release.
Sango Niang led the squad with 15 points and Appiah recorded 13, while Dillon Hamilton added 111 points and Dunn had 10, including a number of key free throws late in the game.
The lead changed hands 12 times, while SFU outworked Fairbanks on the boards, 27-20.
The visitors led the Clan 31-30 at half time, but SFU kept the score close before eventually ending the game on a 12-2 run.
SFU are back at home on Saturday against co-conference leader Western Washington. Game time is 7 p.m.
