Box Score
San Francisco, CA ---The Academy of Art University men's basketball team (0-26, 0-16 PacWest) stayed with the visiting Brigham Young University – Hawaii Seasiders (18-5, 12-2 PacWest) in the first half, but a second half push led to the 99-69 victory for BYUH. Junior forward Jonathan Burnett came off the bench to achieve new season-highs in points (18) and rebounds (12).
“Jon played very well tonight,” Head Coach Mark Sembrowich said. “He really did a good job and battled in there. I know Jon can get 18 points, but the 12 rebounds really impressed me because that's hard to do.”
The contest began on a positive note for AAU as junior guard Phillip Samuel nailed a 3-pointer in the first minute to give his team the lead. Three minutes later, the Senior Night crowd roared with excitement inside Kezar Pavilion as they watched freshman guard Ivan "B.J." Prema, Jr. knock down a trey of his own off a pass from junior guard Lance Olivier. In the very next sequence, Olivier stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup all by himself.
With the Knights up 10-6, BYU-Hawaii guard Tsung-Hsien (Jet) Chang started going to work. Chang had 23 first half points, but it was Burnett who helped keep Academy of Art close with his hustle on the boards. Two offensive rebounds and a put-back by Burnett tied the game 15-15. From there, the Seasiders used a 14-1 burst to gain separation and took a 45-31 lead into halftime.
Samuel and Olivier each hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to cut BYU-Hawaii's advantage down to 12 points, but the visitors soon pushed it to 18 points with strong play from forward Lucas Alves. Although the Seasiders eventually took the 99-69 win, Olivier and freshman forward Aaron Aikman brought the crowd to its feet when they combined for a thunderous alley-oop dunk on a fast break in the final two minutes.
The Knights had a solid performance from Burnett who added two steals, one block, as well as one assist to his 18 points and 12 rebounds. Olivier put in 11 points and dished out five assists while Samuel was the third AAU player to achieve double figures in scoring (10). Junior guard Devin Williams played a solid 20 minutes off the bench, contributing five rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Prior to the tipoff of his final game as an Urban Knight, senior guard Weleh Dennis was honored with his friends and family. Dennis scored three points on a 3-pointer and he finishes the season with the best three-point shooting percentage on the team (.367). He also pulled down two rebounds on Academy of Art's Senior Night.
BYU-Hawaii had a breakout game from Chang who finished with 29 points (including 9-of-14 from the foul line) and three steals. Alves contributed 17 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. The Seasiders, who have now won 11 games in a row, had five players reach double digits in scoring.
“I'm disappointed we didn't get a win,” Coach Sembrowich said. “We started working at the beginning of September and the players have been working extremely hard. We've got a season under our belt and we pick it up and go from here.”
AAU wraps up its second season in program history and its first in the Pacific West Conference with a 0-26 overall record, 0-16 in league play. The Urban Knights energy and effort in their final game of the season reminds fans that a bright future is still on the horizon for Academy of Art men's basketball.
