Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- In a game that was slow to start but picked up the pace on both sides of the ball as it went on, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team couldn't catch up to the outside-shooting Cougars of Azusa Pacific, eventually falling in an 80-64 game in their season finale. The Urban Knights got contributions from all three of their seniors who all started in their final games as Garland Vinson, Rodrigo Maza, and Aaron Aikman celebrated their sendoff games in black and red.

At the first break in the action it was only an 8-4 lead by the Cougars, who came into the game ranked sixth in the conference in points per game. The second media timeout didn't bring about much change either, and out of the break back-to-back jumpers from Alex Carmon made it a 14-12 game in favor of visiting APU.

The Urban Knights closed the gap to one on shots from Aaron Anderson and Rodrigo Maza, and then would tie the game up at 23-23 on a triple from Carmon with 6:06 on the clock. After a quick burst from the Cougars put them back on top, it was Carmon again who slimmed the margin, making a layup inside to make it 33-30, but Azusa Pacific finished the half on a 7-0 run, and it was 40-30 at the break. 

Out of the locker rooms, the Urban Knights actually out-shot the Cougars from the field in the second half, but Azusa lived beyond the arc, making catching up a little bit harder to do. In the second half alone, the Cougars made eight three-pointers, with leading scorer Troy Leaf making four of five and four other players adding at least one from downtown. There was a stretch over seven minutes where six of seven shots made by the Cougars were threes, and the Knights got a couple of their own before falling short.

The Knights had more shots from the free throw line and more rebounds in the second half, but the Cougars would go on to finish the game making 10 three-pointers, which proved to be the difference in the game. Bertram Hall had a game-high 23 points, while Leaf and Sharif Watson added 12 points each. Carmon paced the Knights with 13 points, while Alexis Moore set the new single-season record for scoring for the Urban Knights with a 12-point game, giving him 475 points on the year.

The three seniors for the Knights all made their contribution as well. Vinson played 22 minutes and had a career-high eight points and two rebounds, also recording a block, a steal, and an assist. Maza finished up with a 12-point, five-rebound contest, and ends his career as the all-time field-goal percentage leader, also pulling down 238 career rebounds, good for eighth all-time. Aaron Aikman is fourth on that list after a six-point, 11-rebound contest that gave him 294 career boards. 

The Urban Knights now look ahead to next season where they will be returning a good core of players to build around for the future.