BURNABY, BC — No. 17 Saint Martin's Men's Basketball (16-4, 5-2 GNAC) traveled north to face the Simon Fraser Red Leafs in Burnaby, British Columbia this past Saturday.

Myles Samuels set the tone early, slicing through the defense for a smooth layup that got the Saints rolling. Moments later, Jaden Nielsen-Skinner drilled a deep three-pointer, igniting the Saints' offense and setting the pace for a heated first half. But the Red Leafs wouldn't let the Saints run away with it as they stayed within striking distance of SMU. Immanuel Oludele would stand out in the opening half, crashing the boards and knocking down two clutch three-pointers to keep the Saints on top. Oludele would lead the team with seven rebounds and score 11 points in total. Foul trouble would threaten to derail the Saints' momentum, allowing the Red Leafs to chip away at the lead with a series of free throws. Jacob Harper would hit back-to-back threes to close the half, and a tip-in by Oludele would extend SMU's lead to 38-32 going into the half.

The second half would see the Red Leafs match the score and ramp up the offensive efforts while the Saints would continue to battle back. The score would be tied a total of 13 times throughout the game, with most of those occurring in the final half of play. Diego Trejo-Delgado would lead the offense with 18 points, while Marcel Stevens would land a couple of clutch shots to get the Saints back in a position to win and would end up scoring 11 points on an impressive 3-4 (75%) shooting performance from beyond the arc. Simon Fraser would carry momentum into the final minutes, but the Saints were still able to keep it close, setting up a dramatic finish to the game.

As the contest entered its final moments, the Saints found themselves down by two with 11 seconds left. Nielsen-Skinner stepped to the free-throw line and calmly sank both shots, tying the game at 77. The Red Leafs brought the ball up the court and, with time winding down, hit a contested jumper to take a three-point lead. The Saints would not be able to get a shot off in the final 0.5 seconds, and Simon Fraser would claim the win, 80-77. Jayshawn Moore would end the game with 11 points and four boards, Harper would contribute 10 points, and Samuels would record seven of his own.

SMU Men's Basketball will be hosting two home games this week, including the annual Pack the Pav double-header event, which will be taking place on Thursday, January 23rd as both basketball teams take on the Central Washington Wildcats. You can get tickets for the games here and secure your spot for the Warming Up With The Saints tailgate that begins at 4:15 PM.