Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- Back on their home court for the first time in almost a month, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team used a superb shooting effort from the whole team to overcome a halftime deficit and end up rolling to a 75-63 victory over the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Monday night. Aaron Anderson had a career-high 22 points, while big man Aaron Aikman added 21 points and Alexis Moore finished one assist short of a triple-double in the win. 

"I think tonight was the best defense we've played as a team," said head coach Julius Barnes. "Guys were rotating, they had each other's backs, closed out to the shooters, and didn't let them get comfortable, especially from three-point range. I'm really proud of the effort on defense and I think that it really spurred what we were able to do on offense."

As it has been for almost the entire first half of this year, the Urban Knights (4-12, 2-7 PacWest) and their opponents were back and forth for the first half. The Knights led 10-8 at the first media timeout, with Aikman and Anderson providing eight of those points between them. At the next break, with 10:49 left in the game, it was tied up at 17-17 when Moore made a big three-pointer to even the score.

The Vulcans (3-12, 0-9 PacWest) took a brief lead, the Knights took back the reins, and three minutes later it was tied up yet again at 23-23. The Knights then stretched to their biggest lead of the first half following three straight buckets from Aikman, Herman Pratt IV, and Moore, and were up 29-23 with 6:55 to go, and would hold that lead until the final seconds of the half, when Brandon Thomas converted a three-point play with 0.9 seconds on the clock to give UH Hilo a 37-36 lead at the half. 

It was in the second period that the Urban Knights were able to take control. At the break, Aikman and Anderson had combined for 19 points and eight rebounds on a combined 50% shooting from the field, and that only got better as the game went on. Aikman and Anderson sandwiched their first points of the second half around Moore's second three-pointer of the game, which gave him 42 treys on the year, tying him for the third best single-season output of all time for ART U.

"I knew coming into the game that they were going to try and key on me," said Moore. "Coach told me before the game to try and get the other guys established early, so that's what I tried to do. I just wanted to make sure everybody felt comfortable and got into a rhythm so I wanted to go to Aikman and Anderson early, tried to get Rodrigo [Maza] some touches as well. I think I did a decent job trying to set everybody up, and I was just happy to get the win."

Aikman then initiated, jumping the route on an entry pass for one of his three steals on the day and taking it to the house at the other end to make it 45-42. After a jumper by the Vulcans, Moore found Aikman down the lane and he hammered it down for a two-handed jam to put the Knights up by three once again.

A three-pointer by Lucas Swanson tied the game at 47-47 with 12:59 to go, but the Urban Knights took a lead on a layup from Rodrigo Maza and didn't look back. Anderson then made a pair of free-throws and then Aikman got his second straight dunk to put ART U up by four.

A free-throw by Derek Owens brought the Vulcans within one point at 53-52 with 8:42 left, but the Knights got some key shots to stay out in front. Anderson had back-to-back layups, and a key rally-killer came from forward Matt Cesca, who found himself all alone in the left corner and drained a three-pointer to make it an eight-point lead. Two possessions later, another three-pointer found the bottom of the net, as freshman Herman Pratt continued his strong play with a triple from the right side to push the lead to 11 with under five minutes to play.

From the four-minute mark on, the Vulcans were within single digits but decided to take their chances with the Knights at the foul line. In the final 3:49, ART U went to the line 16 times, with Aikman taking six of those shots. Anderson made three of four to give him 22 points on the night, while Maza made four straight with just over a minute to play to help seal the deal for the Urban Knights.

"The guys knew they had to step up tonight, in the absence of Alex [Carmon], one of our leading scorers, but it gave the other guys the opportunity to seize the moment and showcase what they've been able to do all year," said Barnes. "Lex [Moore] had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, and he kind of distributed the ball like we've been expecting him to do all year. Aaron Anderson had a really good game in terms of getting aggressive and attacking the basket, as did Aaron Aikman, so the guys really stepped up and they filled the void and they helped us get this win."

Anderson led all scorers with his 22 points, and narrowly missed a double-double, totaling 22 points and seven rebounds. Aikman had 21 points and nine rebounds, while also chipping in two blocks and three steals and shooting 9-of-13 from the floor. Moore was one assist away from a triple-double, taking a back seat on the scoring but stepping up other parts of the game with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. The Knights held UH Hilo to only 34.4% shooting from the field, including 29% in the second half. They'll host Chaminade on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 PM.