BURNABY, B.C., Canada – The Central Washington University men's basketball team lost to Simon Fraser 78-91 Thursday evening as the red-hot Clan shot 56.6 percent from the field led by a 40-point outburst by guard Kedar Salam.
 
The Wildcats fall to 7-5 on the season and 2-3 in the GNAC, while the Clan improve to 8-5 and carry the same conference mark as CWU.
 
Jerome Bryant led the Wildcats in scoring for the first time this season with 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting and knocked down two big first-half three pointers.  A total of five Wildcats scored in double figures including Fuquan Niles with 10 while Malik Montoya, Cameron Williams and Sage Woodruff each pitched in 11.
 
The Wildcats bench accounted for 35 of the teams 78 points on the night aided by Marc Rodgers' eight points in 21 minutes of action.
 
After making just a third of their 36 shot attempts in the first half, the Wildcats entered intermission down just 30-33.
 
The Wildcats started slow in the second half but turned things around to shoot 51 percent from the field in the frame, but the Clan missed just 10 shots the entire period to shoot 64.3 percent including 4 of 9 from long range and 18 of 20 from the free throw line.
 
As a result, the Clan climbed out to a seven point lead just under three minutes into the second half and led by as many as nine before the Wildcats ripped off a 10-0 run with freshman Cameron Williams accounting for five himself.
 
Simon Fraser answered by hitting 8 of its final 10 shots of the game, and went 16 of 18 at the foul line in the final 10 minutes of action to secure the victory.
 
Salam scored 27 of his 40 points in the second half, missing just three of his 11 shots. 
 
The Clan won the rebounding battle 38-31, but Central Washington secured 14 offensive rebounds which led to 19 second-chance points.
 
The Wildcats return to action Saturday as they faceoff with rival Western Washington at 7 p.m. at Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash.