Marqus vs. SFSU
Charles Thomas
Photo by Charles Thomas 12.13.2008 AAU vs. SFSU

Men's Basketball

First Half Run Puts CSU LA Over Urban Knights

Box Score

Los Angeles, Calif. (12/26/08) -- On Friday afternoon, Cal State Los Angeles prevailed over Academy of Art University 55-96 as the Golden Eagles went on a 20-5 surge to end the first half and 30 points off AAU turnovers were the difference. Sophomore point guard Weleh Dennis led the Urban Knights in scoring for the fifth consecutive game with 13 points and three 3-pointers made.

Despite a strong start by the Golden Eagles, Academy of Art University battled back with an 18-9 run to trail by just five points, 21-26, with 8:38 on the clock. Dennis highlighted the stretch with eight points including a pair of treys and a jumper while sophomore guard Phillip Samuel, freshman forward Hunter Hayden and junior guard J.R. Cassita got into the act as well. Utilizing a 13-0 run, CSU LA would then finish the half outscoring AAU 5-20 to take a 26-46 advantage into the locker room at the intermission.

At the half, Dennis had eight points while three other Knights had contributed five points apiece. However, the Knights turned the ball over 11 times which led to 15 Golden Eagle points in the opening period.

The first basket of the second half was another 3-pointer by Dennis, but it came with 16:44 remaining and ended a six-minute scoring drought that had carried over from the first half. After assuming a 30-point lead (33-63) with 12:58 left in the contest, the Golden Eagles increased their margin to as many as 44 with strong play from their bench. Overall, CSU LA also out-scored the Urban Knights in second-chance points 7-20 and had a 32-53 rebounding advantage.

The Urban Knights had one other player, freshman forward Josiah Jungsten, in double figures with 11 points. Samuel and Hayden each chipped in nine points apiece and combined to grab 13 rebounds. Freshman forward Lorenzo Dobson had a team-high nine rebounds to go with his five points. AAU did triumph over the Golden Eagles in three-point shooting with a 40% to 34.6% advantage.

Chris Fields led the way for CSU LA by scoring a game-high 18 points and pulling down seven rebounds. The Golden Eagles were playing without Christopher Hart (11.7 ppg, 4.7 apg) who sat because of a hand injury. Chris Mark also added 12 points and paced the squad with 10 rebounds while Dwayne Jones added 17 points (3-of-4 from long range).

Academy of Art University moves to 0-13 overall in their first men's basketball season and the Golden Eagles are now 5-4.

A pair of games in Oakland, CA is coming up for AAU as part of the Holy Names New Years Classic where a matchup with Cal Maritime is first on Monday, December 29th at 5:30 PM. Holy Names, the tournament's host, faces Academy of Art University the following day, Tuesday, December 30th at 7:30 PM.