Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Kenny Chacon)

San Francisco, CA  – In a tightly contested match on Saturday night, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team fell just short of conference foes Dominican University, falling 76-70 to the Penguins. Alexis Moore was the high scorer for the Urban Knights, posting 18 points along with five assists. However, it was not enough in a game that was decided in the last minute.

Starting the evening, Academy of Art found itself down to Dominican 21-9 coming up on the 12-minute mark in the first half. One of the bright spots for ART U was Aaron Aikman (12 points) starting 4-of-5 from the field, but the rest of the team wasn't as successful, and the home team trailed 43-29 at the halftime.

In the second half, the Knights came roaring back. After giving up the opening basket of the half to Dominican, the ART U went on a 14-6 scoring run, narrowing the Penguins' lead to just eight points in the first five minutes. On the other end, Dominique Taplin (9-of-15 FG, 20 points) got a breakaway slam to swing the momentum back to the Penguins.

The Urban Knights continued to battle back, shooting 52 percent from the field, and trimming the Dominican lead to as low as four points with just 4:03 remaining in the game. The Penguins continued their hot shooting hand, however, and with just 28 seconds left and the Knights down 73-70, Alexis Moore's game tying three-point attempt fell just short. After free throws and stops by the Penguins, Dominican secured the 76-70 victory.

Following Moore, Alex Carmon scored 11 points and recorded nine rebounds for the Knights. Taplin and Devin Golston led the Penguins, with 20 and 16 points, respectively. Academy of Art will participate in the Las Vegas Challenge next week against Montana State-Billings and Cal State Dominguez Hills before ending 2013 against California Baptist.