GAME #1
Academy of Art (0-0) at #22 Seattle Pacific (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 14, 2014 – 7 p.m.
Seattle – Royal Brougham Pavilion
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
GAME #2
Academy of Art (0-0) vs. Central Washington (0-0)
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 – 3 p.m.
Seattle – Royal Brougham Pavilion (Seattle Pacific)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
San Francisco, CA — The 2014-15 season is ready for tip-off and the Academy of Art University men's basketball team will start its new campaign this week in the Pacific Northwest when they travel to Seattle for the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic.
 
The Urban Knights (0-0) will face host and No. 22-ranked Seattle Pacific of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 7 p.m. Friday in both teams' season opener. Saturday the Knights will take on another GNAC foe in Central Washington at 3 p.m. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference member Minnesota State Crookston is also participating in the four-team tournament.
 
ART U has its work cut out for it to start the season. The No. 22 Falcons are the defending GNAC champions and appeared in the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament last season. The Wildcats were projected to make the GNAC Championship Tournament at season's end, getting chosen sixth in the preseason GNAC coaches' poll.
 
But the Urban Knights return four letter-winners from a year ago and also debut two players who redshirted with the team last season – 6-foot, 8-inch center Trent Stokes and 6-foot guard Marshawn McMahan. Those six will join forces with five newcomers to give the Urban Knights a roster that is ready for continued success under head coach Julius Barnes.
 
ABOUT SEATTLE PACIFIC
The No. 22 Falcons (0-0) received a top-25 nod from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and collected two first-place votes en route to a third place prediction in the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. SPU has already played two exhibitions this month, defeating NCAA Division III member Pacific Lutheran 77-59 before falling at Division I BYU 75-44.
 
The Falcons have gone 34-4 at home over the last three seasons. They also hold the longest active streak in NCAA Division II with 10 straight Championship Tournament appearances. The Falcons graduated their top two scorers from a season ago, but return their next six best contributors. Through two exhibition games, Cory Hutsen (17.5 points per game) and Mitch Penner (12.0 ppg) lead SPU in scoring.
 
ABOUT CENTRAL WASHINGTON
The Wildcats (0-0) went 12-14 overall last season, 8-10 in the GNAC, just barely missing the conference tournament. CWU graduated their top three scorers from 2013-14 including Mark McLaughlin, who led Division II in scoring averaging 27.1 points per game.
 
Still seven lettermen do return, including 2012-13 starter Dom Williams, who averaged 9.1 points per game before sitting out last season. Back from last year's starting five are guards Marc Rodgers and Joey Roppo. The top two returning scorers for the Wildcats came off the bench last year – guards Jordan Russell and Jalen Peake.
 
BARNES BRINGS SUCCESS
Academy of Art head coach Julius Barnes has led the Urban Knights to more wins (15) in his two years at the helm than ART U collected in its first four years of existence (13). That includes the program's winningest season in 2012-13 – Barnes' first as head coach – when the team won nine contests and narrowly missed making the Pacific West Conference tournament. Last year's 6-21 record included nine losses by six or fewer points, showing that the Urban Knights' ability to compete while Barnes grows the program.