Fox inspires Clan in highest scoring game in GNAC history

The highest scoring basketball game in the history of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and a comeback that exemplified the spirit of the night.

That was the story Saturday as the men’s and women’s teams from Simon Fraser University honoured their most famous alum with dual victories in their conference openers against their most intense rivals.

After raising a banner to the rafters of the West Gym to honour the memory of former junior varsity player Terry Fox, the SFU men opened their league campaign with a 122-118 win over Bellingham’s visiting Western Washington Vikings, the 240 points the most ever scored in GNAC basketball game.

“We got an emotional lift from the ceremony with the Fox family honouring Terry and a lot of energy from the crowd,” admitted head coach James Blake after the Clan ended a 12-game, 15-year losing streak against the Vikings.

The Clan entered the game averaging 126.7 points per game, tops in NCAADiv. 2. Sango Ni angled the winners with 29 points, Justin Cole had 20 and Roderick Evans-Taylor 18.

The SFU women’s team rallied from 14 points down, getting 23 points from pre-season Player of the Year Erin Chambers to defeat the Vikings 74-71. Chambers scored 15 of her points in the second half, while teammate Meg Wilson had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The SFU women’s cross-country team finished with its second straight seventh-place finish at the NCAA Div. 2 cross-country championships on Saturday in Louisville, Ky. Clan senior Jennifer Johnson led her team with a 30th-place finish, earning all-American status. The Clan men finished 20th overall.