Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault)

San Francisco, CA -- The Academy of Art University men's basketball team remained unbeaten on their home floor on Saturday afternoon, riding an efficient night from the floor, shooting 53 percent from the floor and defeating the University of Hawai'i Hilo 82-58. Three Urban Knights scored in double figures, led by Alex Carmon's 20 points, while Bryan Fisher tied his career-high with 11 assists in a victorious effort at Kezar Pavilion.

"I think it started on defense," said head coach Julius Barnes. "We came out and we did a really good job defensively and that led to our offense. That's been the focal point for us all season."

The Urban Knights (4-9, 2-4 PWC) jumped out of the gate, going on a 12-0 run in the first five minutes to go up 13-4 on a thundering dunk by Aaron Aikman. The Knights' defense continued to stifle the Vulcans throughout the first half, responding to every big bucket by Hilo with one of their own, it seemed. Paul Batausa hit a three-pointer with 6:52 left on the clock to cut the lead to 23-20, but then senior Ameer Shamsud-din hit one of his own to push the Knights back ahead by two possessions.

Another three-pointer by Shamsud-din got the lead back into double-digits at 35-25 with 2:36 to play in the first half, and ART U held the line there, answering a layup by Kiel Myers with back-to-back buckets by Rodrigo Maza and Alex Carmon and finishing the half strong to go into the break ahead 41-32. The teams were not separated by much in terms of efficiency from the floor, but the Knights got off eight more shots than the Vulcans, making five and holding the halftime advantage.

"It's nice to have a cushion but its important to extend that cushion and make that cushion bigger," said Barnes. "In a matter of moments that cushion could be gone with just a couple of threes. We want  to continue to build and do all the things are necessary to extend that lead and make it easier for us down the road." 

Academy of Art's defense translated into offense throughout the second half, as the Knights again built the lead to double figures on a jumper from Shamsud-din to make it 46-36 with 15:20 left in the closing period. A few minutes later, after a layup from UH Hilo's Brandon Thomas made it 50-42, ART U went back to work, as Fisher, Carmon, and Aikman contributed on an 11-0 run that put the Knights up 19 with 9:25 to play, punctuated by Carmon's three-point play after Fisher found him for the assist.

"The guys did a great job of sharing the ball," said Barnes "If you look at the stat sheet we had 22 assists and that just speaks volumes. Guys weren't worried about scoring themselves and made the extra pass, drawing and kicking, and those are the things we've been teaching all along. So it was good to see them out there and able to execute that style of basketball."

The lead stretched past 20 on a jumper from Aaron Anderson, who finished the game with 13 points, with just under three minutes left. The Knights coasted from there, eventually putting away the Vulcans by 24 points, the largest margin in school history. Shamsud-din had 19 points to join Carmon and Anderson in double figures, and Fisher almost had a double-double with his 11 assists and 9 rebounds.

In an impressive defensive display, ART U only allowed one member of the Vulcans to get into double figures, as Mychael Hearn recorded 10 points. The Knights play again on Monday evening at 7:30 against Hawai'i Pacific. Sign up for the 5:00 PM Fan Bus to see women's and men's games on Monday HERE!