Box Score

Fresno, CA -- Despite a heated comeback in the final minutes that saw the Academy of Art University men's basketball team take a brief lead with under two minutes to play, the Fresno Pacific University squad held the Urban Knights off in the final 60 seconds and sent the Knights to a second straight close loss, an 83-77 affair at the FPU Events Center. Alex Carmon notched a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds but the Knights came up just short in their comeback bid.

The Urban Knights and the Sunbirds were neck and neck from the get-go, as ART U was down 12-8 at the first media timeout but came back to tie the game at 16-16 at the next break with 11:43 to go in the first half. The Knights took a brief advantage and were up 23-21 with 7:30 to play, but the Sunbirds tied immediately following that on a pair of free throws from Malcolm Griffin for the fifth tie of the game.

The pendulum swung back the other way and FPU took a one-possession lead, but with just over two minutes to play, Alexis Moore scored two of his 22 points on free throws to tie it for a sixth time at 28-28. But the Sunbirds would finish the half off with a 5-0 run on layups from three separate players, and the Knights were down 33-28 headed into the locker room.

Fresno Pacific held that lead through much of the second half, as the Knights cut it to 34-32 on a layup from Rodrigo Maza with 17:53 left, but FPU stretched it to seven points with 14:30 to play, as Jackson Carbajal hit a three-pointer to make it 45-38. The lead grew to as many as 10 with 10:46 left in the game on a three-point play by Griffin, but the Knights didn't back down.

Aaron Aikman had three straight layups, and Moore laid one in to cut the lead to 58-54. Griffin had another bucket for FPU, but Carmon hit a layup and Aaron Anderson had a jumpshot to make it 60-58. Two minutes later, Sergio Valdeolmillos' layup cut the lead to five, and after Moore laid one in, it was Valdeolmillos once again who nailed a three-pointer off the dish from Moore to tie the game at 65-65 with 3:55 to play.

The game see-sawed back and forth from then on, with each bucket changing the team on top of the scoreboard. Anderson and Maza fouled out on consecutive plays, and the Sunbirds made all four free-throws to keep the one-point advantage at 75-74 with 1:31 to play, which happened to be the last time the Knights had a lead. From the final ART U lead, Fresno Pacific made eight of their ten free throws and added a layup, while the Knights had a couple chances but missed a pair of triples that would have either tied or put them ahead, and Academy of Art fell to 4-13 in PacWest play.

Carmon's 24 points and 13 rebounds were both game highs, while Moore posted 22 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three steals in a losing effort. Aikman added 12 points and two blocks for Academy of Art. Griffin had 21 points on his Senior Knight for FPU, while Johnell Thompson had 16 points and Trevon Clayton and Jackson Carbajal each added 15 points.

ART U will turn around to host Dixie State on Saturday before heading on a quick road trip to Dominican next Monday. They'll finish the season at home against Azusa Pacific University on February 27.