Academy of Art Cannot Hold On Against Chico

Arcata, CA -- In its second game of the Lawrence DeBeni Classic, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team (0-8) led at halftime, but lost in the final minutes of a 63-58 thriller versus Chico State (6-1). AAU was down by one point with one minute left and the game was decided by the Wildcats' made free throws. Junior forward Jonathan Burnett finished the contest with a game-high 16 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks.

Junior guard Lance Olivier began the game with a steal and then promptly drained a 3-pointer, but the contest would still be very close early on. With the teams tied, 15-15, the Wildcats surged ahead with a 6-0 run only to be matched right back by the Knights after senior guard Weleh Dennis assisted both a three by freshman guard Jordan Knox and a jumper by freshman guard Ivan Prema, Jr.

After trailing by three points with a little over four minutes remaining in the half, Academy of Art unleashed a 7-0 burst that included layups by three different Knights.

“We made a couple shots and made some stops,” Head Coach Mark Sembrowich said. “We led by six early in the game, but it was close the whole way.”

Although Chico State answered back and knotted the game, 27-27, junior guard Phillip Samuel knocked down a 3-pointer to with under a minute left and the Urban Knights went into halftime leading 30-28.

“We're up two points so you don't go in thinking we have a lead,” Coach Sembrowich said. “I told them nothing different at halftime. We are in a war and no one was dominating so I felt like it was going to go down to the wire."

In the second half, Chico State led by six points on two occasions, but Academy of Art stayed within striking distance both times. Following the eighth tie score of the contest with 4:44 left, the Wildcats pushed a 5-0 run against AAU.

Chico State was then up by three points and in possession of the ball when Samuel got a steal eventually leading to a layup by junior guard Devin Williams. Burnett blocked the Wildcats' very next shot attempt, but they rebounded the ball and put in a jumper to stay in front, 59-56. With 29 seconds remaining, Olivier launched a 3-pointer that would have tied the contest, but he missed and Chico State converted its final four free throws to hang on for the 63-58 win.

Behind the 16 points (6-of-8 from the field) and nine rebounds (five offensive boards) from Burnett, Academy of Art had an 11-point performance from Samuel. Off the bench, Knox put in nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and, despite a poor shooting night individually, Dennis dished out four assists and pulled five rebounds.

Chico State received a team-high 14 points from guard Jon Baird along with four steals while forward Roderick Hawkins added 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench. The teams were fairly comparable across all categories except that the Wildcats were slightly better shooting from the field and put in 17 free throws to just eight for the Knights.

AAU now enters a nine-day stretch of no games until a pair of contests on Dec. 28-29 in Washington. The Urban Knights will compete in a Seattle Pacific Tournament in which they face host Seattle Pacific on Dec. 28 at 7:00 PM and Central Washington on Dec. 29 at 5:30 PM. These two games close out the non-conference season for Academy of Art.