Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Nicol Biesek & Rob Garcia)

Honolulu, HI -- On a night where they faced an opponent that shot more from beyond the arc than they did from two-point range for most of the game, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team fell to a hot-shooting Hawai'i Pacific team in a 72-66 contest to start off their island tour. The Urban Knights were able to put together a late rally at the end of the game, and also held the Sea Warriors scoreless from three-point range in the second half, but HPU found other routes to the bucket to hold Academy of Art off as they made their final charge.

"Our guys played hard tonight and stuck with it until the final buzzer," said head coach Julius Barnes. "We were able to get deflections late in the game and capitalize on those opportunities.  Unfortunately for us, it was not enough."

The Sea Warriors continued to light up the scoreboard from three-point range in the first half, making 10 of their 12 field goals from beyond the arc. Mark Livingston led the way in his first start for HPU, going 4-for-4 to lead the Sea Warriors in the opening half. The Knights kept it at a one-possession game for most of the first ten minutes, but Hawai'i Pacific stretched it to double digits as they built up a 35-25 lead heading into the locker room.

HPU maintained that lead for most of the second half, as the Knights and Sea Warriors battled back and forth for almost eighteen minutes with the same score difference. With 1:32 left in the game, the Urban Knights were down 15 after Malte Ziegenhagen made two free throws. After that, ART U put some serious pressure on, cutting it to a ten-point game with 30 seconds to go after Ivan "B.J." Prema, Jr. split two free-throws to make it a 66-56 game. Prema, Jr. then made a 3-pointer and a layup to trim it to 69-63 game with 15 seconds left, and then Shamsud-din nailed a triple to make it 70-66 with five seconds left. But the comeback came up just short as HPU's Jason Jordan made two free throws with under a second to play to put it out of reach for the Knights.

"We did a much better job of closing out on their shooters in the second half," said Barnes. "Unfortunately, we allowed some dribble penetration that resulted in a few easy buckets.  We've got to improve our defensive rotations and defensive rebounding in order to limit our opponents ability to get second chance baskets."

Academy of Art was led by Ameer Shamsud-din, who finished the game with a game-high 22 points, and also chipped in three assists and four steals. Rodrigo Maza had 10 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes, while Prema, Jr. had 10 points, six of which in the final 36 seconds for the Knights. Marko Cukic had 17 points to lead the Sea Warriors. The Knights will be back in action on Monday against BYU Hawai'i in Laie, HI.