Box Score
St. George, UT -- The Academy of Art University men's basketball team hit the road to the Beehive State, but the Dixie State squad was buzzing around the basket all Thursday night, out-rebounding the Urban Knights and getting four players in double figures and sending the Knights to an 86-73 loss. Alex Carmon had a game-high 25 points and ART U had four players of their own in double-figures, but they couldn't get over the hump against the Red Storm, who were carried by Zach Robbins' seventh straight double-double.

"Robbins is one of the top post players in the conference," said head coach Julius Barnes. "We knew he'd be a handful because he's very skilled and active around the basket. I thought Roddy [Rodrigo Maza] and [Aaron] Aikman did well against him at times. However, like all good players, Robbins found ways to contribute."

Robbins and the Red Storm drew first blood, making the first shot of the game. The Knights tied it up and took a lead on buckets by Carmon and Alexis Moore, and Aaron Anderson gave them a 6-4 lead with 16:43 left to go in the first half, but DeQuan Thompson nailed a three that put Dixie State up by one and they didn't relinquish the lead after that.

ART U got hot at times, with Rodrigo Maza hitting a jumper and then stepping out for the second game in a row and draining a three-pointer to make it a 13-11 Dixie State lead with 14:18 to play. Another three, this time from Carmon, drew the Knights within a point again at 19-18 with 11:32 to play, but Dixie went on an 11-0 run to take a 30-18 advantage with 6:14 left in the half. Thompson and Robbins carried the Red Storm for the rest of the half, and the Knights were held off the board for the final three minutes of the period, trailing 44-27 heading into the locker room. At the break, the Knights had only two assists on 10 field goals, shooting 31 percent in the opening half.

"I thought we did a decent job of swinging the ball tonight," said Barnes. "But no matter how well it moves, you'll be hard pressed to record assists when guys miss shots they normally make."

Out of halftime, Dixie State pushed and got the lead over 20, going up 54-33 with 15:41 to play. Carmon came alive in the second half, making the first four buckets for Academy of Art before Moore buried a jumper with 12:55 on the clock to make it 58-37. A couple minutes later, Sergio Valdeolmillos continued his strong play off the bench by making a three-pointer, the first of his 11 second-half points.

With three minutes left, the Urban Knights went on one final run. Down 85-63, they stopped the Red Storm in their tracks the rest of the way. Anderson got a dish from Garland Vinson and laid it in. Valdeolmillos hit another three with two minutes left, and then made a pair of free throws with under a minute to play that made it 85-70. Moore hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds to play, but the late run came up short, and despite going on a 10-1 stretch over the final three minutes and outscored Dixie 46-42 in the second half, ART U fell 86-73.

Carmon led all scorers with 25 points and also had seven rebounds. Moore had 18 points, while Valdeolmillos (11) and Anderson (10) gave the Knights four players with double-digit point totals. DeQuan Thompson made three triples on his way to a 19-point performance to lead Dixie State, while Robbins had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Louis Garrett (12) and Curtis Papenfuss (11) were also in double figures. ART U will travel to San Diego to play PLNU on Saturday.

"Point Loma has been playing well as of late," said Barnes. "They are a completely different team than the one we faced earlier this season. We need to come out with energy on the defensive end and be in attack mode for 40 minutes. Execution, especially down the stretch will be crucial if we are to walk out of there victorious."

Saturday's game starts at 4:00 PM at the Golden Gymnasium.