SAN FRANCISCO - It was a shooting fest on Saturday as Academy of Art (4-6, 2-2 PacWest) and Fresno Pacific University (7-3, 3-1 PacWest) both had field goal percentages higher than 59 percent in the first half. ART U was too slow to the draw however, falling 98-85 after a late FPU run.
 
Out of the gate, the Urban Knights found themselves in a 4-0 hole, but battled back and took a 7-6 lead at the 17:25 mark when senior guard Nick Cary was able to land a jumper for his second basket of the contest.

 
The Sunbirds would quickly regain the lead, only to have it returned to ART U four minutes later. Besides an 11 second lead change in favor of FPU, the Urban Knights found themselves on top of the score board until a Sunbirds 3-pointer found its mark with one second remaining in the first half, giving Fresno Pacific a two-point advantage heading to the locker room.
 
At the conclusion of the first half, both universities displayed some impressive statistics including: each side had field goal percentages over 50 percent, ART U made 10 of their first 11 shots, and the Urban Knights' 47 first-half points were their most since almost one year ago when they scored 48 in the second quarter against Azusa Pacific on December 20, 2014.
 
The second half was a different tale however, as the Sunbirds would not relinquish the lead during the final 20 minutes.
 
Both teams duked out shots during the half, but neither side could surmount to a run any larger than 5-0; this remained true until the final 53 seconds when FPU put together a 7-0 run to distance themselves from the Knights.
 
Although the scoreboard did not reflect the team's efforts as a whole, ART U had four players who reached double-digit figures in points. The first was sophomore guard Jase Harrison who posted 18 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Chris Salas also had a standout night, tallying 16 points and 4 rebounds.  Salas went on a hot streak out of the gate, scoring 14 of his points in his first 11 minutes of playing time. Cary also contributed 15 points and rebounded seven, while sophomore guard Uchenna Okeneme landed 12 points by the time the final horn sounded.
 
As a team, the Urban Knights shot 45.6 percent from the field and 87.1 percent from the free throw line. For the second game in a row, the Knights also won the rebound war with 31 over the Sunbirds' 27.
 
Fresno Pacific's Roger Paul and Madison Higgins each finished the game with 22 points, while Spencer Krannitz contributed 15 buckets.
 
In two weeks' time, the Urban Knights will return to action in the New Year as they travel to Holy Names for another PacWest matchup on January 5.