SAN FRANCISCO – Academy of Art had a strong defensive-showing against the top-ranked team in the PacWest. However, Dixie State posted a big second half, helping them pull away for good in the closing minutes.
 
In the opening period, Academy of Art looked in control: the Urban Knights took an early, 10-5 lead with the help of two big blocks from junior center Cameron Niven. ART U's offense was also strong out of the gate, knocking down seven of their first eight shots, eventually taking a six-point lead (17-11) at the 13:28 mark. The Knights continued to keep in front of the Trailblazers for the majority of the period until a free throw from DSU's Trevor Hill tied the contest at 22-22 with 8:53 to play. Niven responded with back-to-back layups to surge back ahead by four points, but Dixie State pulled ahead with just under three minutes remaining in the half. The lead changed hands several times over the next two minutes, but the Trailblazers' Brandon Simister managed to score a 3-pointer with four seconds on the clock, giving Dixie a 3-point 36-33 lead.
 
After accumulating a .481 field goal percentage in the first half, the Urban Knights looked to keep the momentum alive at the start of the second. However, the Trailblazers jumped out to an immediate, 9-point lead after scoring six consecutive points to open the period. ART U played DSU evenly over the next six minutes, keeping their deficit to within three possessions. However, Dixie's lead steadily grew as the Knights' offense began to falter. Although ART U held their opponents to a .333 field goal percentage in the second half, they could only score 16.7 percent of their shots with just four field goals made in the final 20 minutes. Despite a late 5-0 run to finish the game, Academy of Art fell to Dixie by the score of 61-47.
 
Niven was the biggest contributor for the Urban Knights on Saturday afternoon, matching the program's single-game blocks record (six) which included four in the first half. The Castro Valley, Calif. native also recorded his second-career double-double with team-highs in both points (15) and rebounds (10). Senior guard Kendall Brown scored seven points in the contest while junior guard Cobe Williams led both sides with five assists. Williams now leads the team with 53 assists on the season for an average of 2.9 per game.
 
Now with an overall record of 7-11, ART U drops to .500 in conference with six wins and six losses. The Urban Knights hold the sixth and final spot needed to receive a berth into the PacWest Conference Tournament and they will look to hold their position when they head to Dominican on January 27 at 4:00 p.m.