Box Score

San Francisco, CA – On the campus of City College of San Francisco Monday night, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team began its five-game homestand with a tough 78-63 defeat at the hands of Dixie State. Junior center Hunter Hayden, however, set a new ART U program record with 20 rebounds in just 26 minutes of play in the Pacific West Conference matchup.

“My personal goal is to get double-digit rebounds every game,” Hayden said. “It's about boxing out and getting the ball with ferocity for me. If it's a 50-50 ball, I'm getting it.”

The game remained close early as freshman forward William Overton, Jr. put ART U's first points on the board with a jumper. Using balanced scoring, the Urban Knights were within one point of Dixie State, 8-7, before a 13-2 run came by the Red Storm. Though DSC grew its lead to 10 points midway through the half, Academy of Art responded with its own 11-2 burst. The run was sparked by a 3-pointer from junior forward Keith Davis and continued with five points from freshman guard Czar Robotham.

“We were trying to get stops and that's what got us back in,” Head Coach Mark Sembrowich said. “The gameplan was to get stops, limit them to one shot, and keep them off the offensive boards. I think we gave up too many of those, but we got some stops there and strung a run together.”

A quick 9-4 push by Dixie State brought them to their 34-28 halftime lead. At the break, Robotham led the Knights offensively with all eight points in the period, while Hayden had already amassed 11 rebounds.

Academy of Art then had the DSC lead down to two points, 37-35, by way of a 7-1 run to open the second half. Freshman center Noah Koné-Nelson rejected three Red Storm shots including a dunk attempt to fuel the comeback. Despite the Knights' best efforts of getting to the free throw line, Dixie State managed to hold steadfast to its lead and gradually built it back up with a 19-9 response.

Halfway through the second period, Koné-Nelson had converted two foul shots and Davis nailed a triple in transition to bring ART U within seven points, 56-49. The Red Storm used several timely baskets to fend off the final attempts by the Knights and go on to take the victory in a 78-63 end result.

ART U's previous rebounding record (14) had been held by Hayden as well (vs. Hawaii-Hilo on Jan. 28, 2009), but the 20 rebounds he notched Monday night blew it away. With 13 on the defensive glass, seven on the offensive side, and six points to boot, Hayden's determination was unmatched. It was the second-most rebounds by a PacWest men's basketball player this season. Davis led Academy of Art with a game-high 19 points along with four rebounds, while Overton, Jr. followed with 12 points. Robotham added eight points and three rebounds. Koné-Nelson finished with four points, five rebounds, and a season-high four blocks. ART U now stands at 3-12 overall, 0-5 in PacWest action.

“[Hunter's] 20 rebounds is absolutely phenomenal,” Coach Sembrowich said. “Keith was 7-for-19 for 19 points; he's had games like that and that's good. That's Keith; he's able to do that and he has that ability. But the 20 rebounds is awful special here tonight. It's really unfortunate that it comes in a loss, but the effort is there and it shows the way that Hunter is coming along. If he stays out of foul trouble, look he has 20 rebounds in just 26 minutes of play. He really did a man's job inside there tonight.”

On the Red Storm's side, forward Tom Whitehead, one of the PacWest's top five scorers, was limited to just 10 points, but it was guard Donovan Plunkett who paced the squad with 18 points off the bench. Forward Griffon Jones contributed 12 points and nine rebounds as well. DSC now sports an 8-4 overall record, 1-1 in PacWest play.

The Urban Knights continue their homestand with a contest against Grand Canyon this Thursday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM. Please check www.artuathletics.com for any changes to time or location.