BELLINGHAM, WA – With non-conference games concluding for RMAC schools this weekend, Colorado Christian was hunting for some momentum heading into the league play next week.

Despite shooting a season high from the floor, the Cougars could not turn that effort into their first win of the season as Simon Fraser came away with an 89-80 victory at the Chuck Randall Classic hosted by Western Washington University.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Cougars were able to find the bottom of the net on 58.2 percent (32-for-55) of their field goal attempts. However, the Clan forced Colorado Christian into 18 turnovers and dominated the play underneath the basket.

Simon Fraser scored 27 points off those Cougar miscues while notching 52 points in the paint. Moreover, despite shooting just over 43 percent they grabbed 22 offensive rebounds as they had 24 second chance points.

As the first half unfolded, neither team was able to grab a significant amount of momentum. Colorado Christian had their largest lead of the game when Elijah Oliver hit a jumper with 9:04 left until halftime to give his team a 23-17 edge. Simon Fraser responded as they closed the frame on a 22-10 scoring spurt to take a six-point (39-33) lead into the locker room.

Simon Fraser never relinquished the lead but strong shooting by the Cougars kept them within striking distance during the last 20 minutes. Just before the halfway mark of the stanza, a Jake Hornick lay-up brought his team with one-point (62-61). However, Simon Fraser scored 10 unanswered points in a critical stretch as the Cougars were on the brink of taking the lead.

Nonetheless, Colorado Christian rallied one more time as they went on a 10-0 scoring spree of their own to get back within a single point at 72-71 with 6:08 left on the game clock. Down the stretch, the Cougars had two possessions to tie or take the lead but could not. Simon Fraser scored at least one point on 10 of their final 11 possessions to pull away for the victory.

COUGAR LEADERS: Collin Huun missed just one of his seven three-point attempts en route to his team high 20-point performance. Spencer Hoffman put together a career high effort as he scored 18 points. Justin Engesser (16 points, 9 rebounds) and Hornick (10 points, 9 assists) just missed double-double efforts.

ALL TOURNAMENT: During his two-game stretch over the last 24 hours, Hornick was named to the all-tournament team. In addition to his Saturday performance, he scored 19 points last night with four assists and four steals. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Colorado Christian went 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from behind the arc.
• Simon Fraser hit 19 of their 27 shots from the charity stripe while Colorado Christian went 3-for-7
• The Clan took 21 more total shots

UP NEXT: The Cougars 22-game conference slate starts on Friday, Dec. 5 with a trip to Chadron State.