Simon Fraser forward Jahmal Wright is one of only three returning Red Leafs with substantial playing time in 2021-22. SFU unveils its new team on the road Friday as it visits War Memorial Gym to face the UBC Thunderbirds in the Buchanan Cup classic. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

Buchanan Cup 2022: “Coach, you’ve got a lot of new guys…” Simon Fraser Red Leafs face host UBC Thunderbirds on Friday with a new-look team intent on finding some instant karma!

BURNABY — A reporter takes a seat last week in the Burnaby Mountain office of Simon Fraser head men’s basketball coach Steve Hanson, offering an apology ahead of what must be the most obvious observation of all.“Coach, you’ve got a lot of new guys…”Willing to indulge his inquisitor in the playful manner in which the […]

Kelowna Owls' star outside hitter Sebastien Manuel, the unanimous choice as Varsity Letters' 2021-22 B.C. Boys High School Player of the Year, will stay home and begin his university career next season with the UBC Okanagan Heat. (Photo property of UBC Okanagan Heat athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Kelowna Owls’ Sebastien Manuel: B.C. Boys Volleyball 2021-22 Player of the Year brings a heart-and-soul love for the game to his hometown UBC Okanagan Heat!

KELOWNA — Let Sebastien Manuel tell you a volleyball story and before long you start to realize, from the conviction of his delivery, that he’s actually talking about what matters most to him in life.Is there a way to best describe him?How about the word ‘steeped’ as in “…to be surrounded by or filled with […]

Simon Fraser's Wilfried Balata (10) and Elliot Dimaculangan had plenty to celebrate Thursday after a rally from 22 points down carried SFU to a last-second win over the St. Martin's Saints. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

After frigid start, Simon Fraser rallies from 22 points down to stun visiting St. Martin’s! Says point guard David Penney: “Now we know we have another gear we can get to!”

BURNABY — It wasn’t exactly a first half that you would put alongside the most inspiring in the history of Simon Fraser men’s basketball.In fact, it ebbed low enough about four minutes from halftime that the home team was staring a 22-point deficit straight in the eye Wednesday evening at the West Gym against the […]

Former Tamanawis Wildcat and Fraser Valley Cascade big man Sukhman Sandhu has brought a revelatory skill package to his first season as a UBC Thunderbird. Despite the stops and starts of the 2021-22 Canada West season, Sandhu and fellow UBC newcomer James Woods have helped set the 'Birds in place for a productive post season. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

As UBC Thunderbirds host UFV Cascades on Friday, the trick in a 2021-22 Canada West hoops season of stops and starts is finding a way to stay in rhythm with your routine!

VANCOUVER — You’re the head coach of a Canada West men’s or women’s basketball program, and as the most disjointed regular-season campaign in conference history does its best to wind towards an organized conclusion, one question seems to keeping topping all others in terms of relevancy.Between re-scheduled games and extended byes, what’s the best way […]

Trinity Western Spartans' point guard Mason Bourcier during his team's 93-84 exhibition win over the Calgary Dinos on Oct. 7 at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Mason Bourcier: With three triple-doubles over his past six games, Trinity Western’s well-travelled guard puts down his hoops roots at Langley Events Centre!

LANGLEY — Ask Mason Bourcier about the good times he is starting to have again on the basketball court, and he seems to first take a backwards glance into his own figurative rearview mirror before speaking.“I used to be that kid, who if you showed him a brick wall, he’d run right through it,” Trinity […]

Simon Fraser's Josiah Mastandrea had the touch coming off the bench on Saturday, scoring 16 points in a pivotal GNAC victory over Seattle Pacific. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Simon Fraser men’s basketball: Sitting in first place atop the GNAC standings, SFU set to embark on marathon schedule of games over next three-plus weeks!

BURNABY —A famine filled with cancellations has added up to a feast of games for the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team.In what will amount to playing almost a half season of conference games over a span of just over three weeks, SFU opened a gruelling stretch of nine games over a span of 24 days […]

Simon Fraser's Elliot Dimaculangan twice hit big second-half treys but shorthanded SFU fell to host St. Martin's on Saturday in Lacey, Wash. (Photo by Paul Yates property of SFU athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Shy its top two scorers and coming off a 40-day lay-off, Simon Fraser men battle hard in loss at first-place St. Martin’s

Maybe some time later this season, the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team will have the basketball karma work in their favour.On the road Saturday in Lacey (Wash.), that was clearly not the case in an 80-55 loss to the host St. Martin’s Saints (11-3, 4-1), who used the win to move into first place in […]

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 […]