Box Score

San Rafael, CA -- Finally getting on the floor to start a new season, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team not only shot out of the gate, but did so at such a pace that indicates the opposition could be in the rear view mirror all season long. Facing off against Cal State East Bay in the opening game of the PacWest/CCAA Challenge being played at Dominican University, the Urban Knights set off an offensive explosion, matching the highest output in ART U history with a resounding 97-80 win over the Pioneers. Alex Carmon dropped a career-high 31 points and flirted with a triple-double, added eight rebounds and eight assists.

"It's nice to start the year off with a win," said head coach Julius Barnes. "I thought we did a decent job of stringing together defensive stops, which allowed us to get out in transition. However, there were times that we became complacent and somewhat careless after building a lead. We need to be able to concentrate and execute on both ends of the floor for the entirety of the game."

Barnes, entering his second year as the head coach of the Urban Knights, saw his team actually behind early, trailing 16-15 at the 13-minute marker on a layup from East Bay's Mark Samuels. But that was the last time they were behind for the rest of the game, from there going on a 18-5 run that expanded the lead to 34-20 with 6:26 left in the first half, as Carmon nailed a jumper to make it a 14-point lead. The Pioneers went on their own run at the end of the half as the Knights went cold from the floor, but ART U still led at the break by a score of 40-36.

Out of the locker room, Academy of Art got back in the groove, as less than 10 seconds into the half Aaron Anderson got a layup to fall. The Knights started to feed the ball down low and began spreading the scoring around generously. A pair of free-throws from Carmon made it a double-digit lead again at 56-45 with 16:23 on the clock, and it was Carmon and big man Aaron Aikman who helped get the lead to its highest point at 70-50 with 10:55 to play.

The Pioneers started to chip away, just as they had in the first half, but the Urban Knights were having no part in it, never taking their foot off the gas as Aikman, Carmon, and then guard Alexis Moore also got in the mix scoring. With 1:46 to go, East Bay cut the lead back to single digits, but a layup by transfer Matt Cesca and then three free throws from Carmon made it a 14-point game with 1:05 to play and really sealed the deal, as the Knights held on for a 17-point victory.

"We came out with hunger," said Carmon. "They went on runs but we were able to stay composed and play our game which eventually led to us getting the win."

Carmon led all scorers with his career-high 31, scoring 15 points in the second half as one of a trio of Knights in double digits in the closing 20 minutes. Aikman set a career best with 20 points and also chipped in eight rebounds, while Moore dropped a double-double with 16 points (10 in the second half) and 12 rebounds. Junior Aaron Anderson also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Herman Pratt IV had 13 points and a pair of steals in his college debut.

For the Urban Knights, a big reason that they were able to stay ahead was the ability to crash the boards, out-rebounding the Pioneers 53 to 27 and setting a program record with those 53 rebounds. They also shot over 50 percent from the floor (51.5%) and got to the free-throw line 39 times, with Carmon making 10 of 11 from the stripe.

"We've got to be better at limiting second chance opportunities and take better care of the ball," said Barnes. "We'll enjoy this win for a couple of hours and start to prepare for a tough opponent in Humboldt State."

The Knights play the Lumberjacks in the second round of the PacWest/CCAA Challenge on Saturday at 5:30. Humboldt State lost to Dominican on Friday night by a score of 95-83.