The season's first home game was an intense one.
This past Saturday, Academy of Art University men's basketball made an incredible comeback from down 15 points with five minutes left, but could not hold on en route to a dramatic 73-71 loss to Simpson University. Although the Knights lost on a jumper in the final seconds, Head Coach Mark Sembrowich knows teams sometimes have to go through games like this one before they can prevail.
“It's part of the learning process for us,” Coach Sembrowich said. “There's some maturation we still need. All in all, it's disappointing that we lost, but it is all part of the process and we have to learn how to win in those situations.”
Saturday's contest was a roller coaster ride with the Red Hawks jumping out to an 8-0 lead before a 9-0 response by Academy of Art put the home team up 12-11. From there, the Urban Knights built their advantage up to 13 points in the second half before an 11-0 run by Simpson, which was promptly followed by a 14-2 push by AAU.
In the last two minutes, the Knights were down by one point when junior guard Devin Williams was fouled and sent to the free throw line. He converted one of two attempts to tie the score at 71-71. Simpson University guard Pat Magno then managed to get off a jumper at the baseline with five seconds left and a turnover by AAU ended the game with the Red Hawks on top. Looking back at how things unfolded, a stat that Coach Sembrowich felt made a huge difference was the 30 free throws Simpson made in 40 trips to the foul line.
“Fouls are sometimes a lack of discipline on defense,” Coach Sembrowich said. “And I think there were certainly some cases where we had letdowns and ended up fouling. That really hurt us.”
Williams finished the afternoon with season-highs in points (17), rebounds (7), and assists (5) off the bench. Although he had two turnovers in a wild sequence shortly after entering the game, Williams later returned to the floor determined to help his team.
“[Devin] gave us good energy,” Coach Sembrowich said. “After we pulled him out, he stayed in the game mentally. He was down there waving the towel and cheering for the guys so we put him back in.”
Also contributing to the Urban Knights' 39 bench points was freshman guard Jordan Knox. He had 10 points in the first period and was a big reason why Academy of Art took a 35-25 lead into the halftime locker room.
“We want [Jordan] to drive it more,” Coach Sembrowich said. “His game is more suited for that, but he provided some energy and spark off the bench.”
Though it was a loss, no one could deny the loads of supporters that came out to cheer on their men's basketball team. After a tailgate event at the new Urban Knight Art Café, a packed fan bus dropped off “Sembro's Psychos” at UCSF prior to tipoff. The gym was loud and full of excitement as fans watched Academy of Art University play its first game at home.
“[The atmosphere] was good,” Coach Sembrowich said. “We are grateful that people came out to support us. I really hope that we whet their appetite to get them to come back.”
The Urban Knights return to the road this upcoming weekend and they will again face difficult opponents. Humboldt State and Chico State are both averaging over 68 points per game so Academy of Art has stressed the defensive end this week.
“Discipline on defense is something we will continue to work on,” Coach Sembrowich said. “We need to get better. It's a monster task this weekend. Humboldt State and Chico State are two established programs. Humboldt State is really good and they fill up their arena so we will have our hands full.”
