Battling through the COVID-cancelled season and re-emerging as a scoing and rebounding force for Simon Fraser basketball, 7-foot senior Julian Roche is playing the best basketball of his career. He suits up Thursday for SFU's GNAC home opener against Alaska Fairbanks. (Photo by Paul Yates property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Julian be nimble, Julian be quick! Now 75 pounds lighter, here’s why Simon Fraser’s 7-foot centre Julian Roche is playing the best basketball of his career!

BURNABY — The biggest man on Burnaby Mountain is standing taller than ever.Julian Roche has stopped growing, yet there seems little question these days that Simon Fraser’s 7-foot senior centre is reaching new heights in every part of his life, including on the court where his team-leading 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game are […]

With a capacity crowd of 1,600 taking in the sights, SFU's Jordan Lyons scores two of his nine points on the night Saturday against UBC in the Buchanan Cup. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Buchanan Cup 2021: The rivalry returns as a sell-out crowd of 1,600 packs Simon Fraser’s West Gym to watch the hosts top UBC Thunderbirds 90-82!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — As Steve Hanson made his way across campus Saturday evening for the biggest men’s basketball game at SFU in recent memory, he just knew that nobody was in for an ordinary night.“When I got here at 5:45 (p.m.), I could already hear the 400 people who lined up,” Simon Fraser’s head coach […]

Feature University Men's Basketball

Josiah Mastandrea: For the underdog in all of us, Simon Fraser’s gutsy senior brings heart-on-sleeve grit into Saturday’s Buchanan Cup clash with visiting UBC!

BURNABY — Josiah Mastandrea never figured he’d be a part of a night like this Saturday night, a night where the basketball-karma-ooze-o-metre breaks, the mercury spills and the crowd packed into the West Gym on the campus of Simon Fraser University goes wild.Yet as a testament to those players draped in the kind of never-say-die […]

Point guard to point guard... UBC head coach Kevin Hanson confers with second-year point guard Jack Cruz-Dumont, who on Saturday at SFU follows in the footsteps of his later father John, a former 'Birds great, by playing in the Buchanan Cup crosstown rivalry clash. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC’s Jack Cruz-Dumont: As the Buchanan Cup grudge match resumes Saturday at SFU, ‘Birds starting point guard follows his family’s footsteps!

VANCOUVER — Even though it is arguably still one of a handful of the best basketball rivalries in B.C. basketball lore, it also is one which has been played so infrequently as to almost be forgotten by today’s generation of players.Yet something as glorious as the Buchanan Cup, the formerly annual men’s hoop grudge match […]

Simon Fraser's Jasdeep Gill knocked down a huge triple with under two minutes remaining to help SFU past Cal State Dominguez Hills in its 2021-22 debut Friday in Carson, Cal. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

SFU men’s basketball opens with win at CCAA/GNAC Challenge: Simon Fraser shows a new defensive edge in victory over Cal State-Dominguez Hills Toros!

It’s been so long since the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team last played an actual game that they were bound to look a little different than their past selves.The Burnaby Mountain crew which debuted Friday night at the CCAA/GNAC Challenge in Carson, CA., however, was at first glance, a lot different.“We have changed a lot […]

Fraser Valley Cascades (left to right) Jordyn Sekhon, Ahmad Athman and Kyle Claggett share the connections between their jersey numbers and lives spent both learning their sport and celebrating that experience with family. (Photos by Gibi Saini property of UFV Athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

On the eve of its 2021-22 hoops re-start season, trio of UFV Cascades reveal jersey number origin stories and their direct connection to basketball and family!

ABBOTSFORD — On a team of athletes, there is nothing more utilitarian than the number assigned to each player’s jersey.It’s a stamp of identification for purposes of record, whether for points scored, penalties taken or in most instances, the simple act of participation.Yet ask the athletes themselves about their true sum value, and quite suddenly […]

UBC guard Grant Audu has paid his dues and honed his game and enters the 2021-22 season as a true team leader. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s hoops 2021-22: A new season tips off Thursday with game-ready additions as defending Canada West champ ‘Birds ready for small-ball or tall-ball!

VANCOUVER — They are not exactly a team shrouded in mystery, yet on the night of the final sleep before opening the 2021-22 Canada West men’s basketball season, it’s impossible to have a genuine handle on just what kind of team the UBC Thunderbirds are going to be.And you can take that right down to […]

Trinity Western guard Mason Bourcier keeps a step ahead of Calgary's Jackson Bayles during Canada West preseason action Oct. 7, 2021 at the Langley Events Centre. The game marked the first university game played at the facility since Feb. 8, 2020. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Winless in 2019-20, new-look Trinity Western men’s basketball debuts in style as Q, Mace and the Spartans upset Calgary Dinos 93-84 at the LEC!

LANGLEY — There was a sense of the surreal in the air Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre.Just 96 fans, watching the first university basketball game held in the facility since Feb. 8. 2020, in what would officially be its smallest sell-out crowd ever.No one else was watching because there was no livestream outside […]

Q the return. TWU's dynamic scoring guard Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath leads the Spartans' small ball attack as the Langley school plays the first U Sports men's basketball game since March of 2020 when it hosts the Calgary Dinos on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of TWU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Trinity Western opens its 2021-21 men’s U SPORTS season Thursday vs. Calgary! Debut for Spartans’ dynamic backcourt of Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath and Mason Bourcier!

LANGLEY — The longest dry spell in the history of U SPORTS basketball is set to end on Thursday.“I think we’re (one of) the first U SPORTS team in the country to play,” says Trinity Western Spartans’ men’s basketball coach Trevor Pridie, looking ahead to Thursday’s limited capacity pre-season exhibition opener against the powerhouse Calgary […]

The Langley Events Centre was announced Thursday as the new home of the Fraser Valley Bandits. (Langley Events Centre photo)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Pro hoops come to the LEC: Fraser Valley Bandits make the move to Langley Events Centre for 2022 CEBL season!

Via Press ReleaseLANGLEY — The Fraser Valley Bandits announced Thursday that the club has chosen Langley Events Centre (LEC) as its home for the upcoming Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season, which begins May 2022. As the new home of professional basketball in B.C., LEC builds upon its history of showcasing the province’s best players by […]