San Francisco, Calif. (11/13/08)-- On a historic night for Academy of Art University basketball, the men's team dropped its exhibition game to the San Francisco State University Gators by a score of 61-86. Sophomore guard Dominique Smith paced the Urban Knights with 14 points (including 6-6 from the free throw line) while freshman forward Lorenzo Dobson pulled down 12 rebounds.

The Urban Knights had to travel less than seven miles to SFSU's Main Gymnasium for the 7:00 PM start on Thursday evening. At the 18:22 mark, Dominique Smith went down in the record books as the very first Academy of Art University Men's Basketball player to score a field goal with the first assist being awarded to freshman small forward Hunter Hayden.

However, be it nerves, newness to the concept of Urban Knight Men's Basketball or perhaps a combination of both, AAU found itself in a hole early. With 12:23 left in the first half, the Urban Knights were down 18-5. Shortly thereafter, junior guard J.R. Cassita drained a 3-pointer and ended the scoring drought. Trips to the free throw line and layups kept AAU in the scoring column even though the halftime score showed San Francisco State University ahead, 47-24.

In the second half, the Urban Knights proceeded to capture some momentum back and were only outscored by two points in the period. Cassita, who finished with 12 points, got things going with a 3-pointer in the first two minutes and Smith continued to get to the line. The Warriors' lead would balloon to 30 points late in the game despite a balanced second half offensive attack in which all but one Urban Knight scored. Cassita contributed nine points in the second period to lead the team while Hayden had eight (6-8 FTs) and Smith added six (4-4 FTs).

"[Smith] has truly started to develop into a dominant big guard," said Head Coach Peter Thibeaux after his team's very first performance. "And [Cassita] is a true scoring, long-range jump shooter with a lot of bounce in his game."

For the Gators, five players scored in double-figures including Alex Thomas who finished with a game-high 16 points. SFSU's bench made a huge difference in the game as Ryan Wessels and Phoenix O'Rourke combined for 23 points and Brad Visman grabbed 12 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play.

Academy of Art University will play its season opener against the CSU Stanislaus Warriors next Tuesday (11/18/08) at Kezar Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.