Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault)

San Francisco, CA -- Heating up late in the first half, Academy of Art University commanded an eight-point lead in the first and got up by as many as 11 in the second against Dixie State, the Pacific West Conference's top team, on Saturday afternoon. However, a Red Storm comeback put the game up for grabs down the stretch. ART U made a valiant attempt in the waning seconds but, despite four Urban Knights scoring in double figures, Dixie escaped with an 82-80 win.

“[This game] was a good learning experience and definitely a confidence-builder," head coach Julius Barnes said. "We know that we can play with the best teams in the conference and have an opportunity to win. But you've got to give credit to Dixie. They came out and battled until the end."

The game was even in the first half, and low scoring as well, with the score only a 14-12 Dixie State advantage at the 12-minute media timeout. De'Quan Thompson made a three-pointer with 11:19 to go to give the Red Storm a five-point lead, but that's when the Knights caught fire.

Alex Carmon made a jumper in transition to tie the game, and then Fisher had a layup on the break to give the Urban Knights a 22-20 lead with 6:45 to go. Academy of Art continued the strong play through the remainder of the half, fighting through a tie at 31-31 with 2:01 left to finish on an 8-0 run, the final six by Alex Carmon, to close the period.

The second half started off with back-to-back buckets by the Knights to expand their lead to 13. That margin served ART  U well for a few minutes, but the first-place Red Storm came back strong, eventually tying the game on a fast break layup by Derek Owen with 11:56 left to make it 54-54.

After that the game see-sawed back and forth, with the Urban Knights taking a lead with 5:47 to go on a three-pointer from Ameer Shamsud-din. That lead was at six points when Fisher made a layup with 3:03 left, but Dixie State started to chip away in the final minutes, tying the game again at 79-79 with 0:34 on the clock. Kimball Payne had the layup and was also fouled, completing the three-point play to put Dixie up by one.

The Urban Knights had the ball with a chance for the last play of the game, but Fisher's layup was blocked with five seconds left. ART U had one last shot at it, but it required Shamsud-din to make one free throw and miss the next in order to get the rebound. He made the first, but the Knights couldn't get the board and Dixie ended up with the win.

"I think there were some plays that we'd like to have back, but we have to move forward and get ready for our next opponent,” Coach Barnes said.

Academy of Art had four players with at least 10 points, led by Shamsud-din's 20 point, five assist performance. Carmon had 19 points, again with a lot from the free-throw line, getting 8-of-10 from the line while also adding six rebounds. Fisher had 16 points and seven assists, and Ivan "B.J." Prema, Jr. added 11 points and three assists. Zach Robbins had 22 points to pace the Red Storm.

The Knights will play two more home matches next week, but neither will be at Kezar Pavilion. They face Grand Canyon on Feb. 14 at College of San Mateo, and then will take on Fresno Pacific on Feb. 16 in Hayward at Cal State East Bay.