Box Score

Phoenix, AZ -- The Urban Knights have been playing good halves of basketball, but to take a phrase from their head coach Julius Barnes, they're still working to put together a full 40 minutes of basketball. In their first four games this season, they have spotted their opponents big leads before getting back in the game, but against Northwest Nazarene in the closing game of the GCU Thanksgiving Holiday Classic, the Knights and Crusaders battled for the entirety of both periods, outscoring NNU in the second half but eventually falling 78-70.

Before the game Barnes was stressing that the way to get to the Crusaders was to keep the pressure on the ball, and the Knights did just that, forcing 24 turnovers, but only scored 18 points  off those takeaways. On the other hand, they only gave up 19 turnovers of their own, but Northwest Nazarene was able to capitalize off of those chances, putting in 24 of their points off mistakes from the Knights. NNU also out-rebounded Academy of Art 41-to-33, with Knights' big men Rodrigo Maza and Mike Jorritsma both limited because of foul trouble.

The Urban Knights were trailing early on in the game but never allowed the Crusaders to feel comfortable. Northwest Nazarene had an early lead before the Knights got on the board, but once ART U started to score, they kept pace with their opponents. Although the margin was ten at the half, Academy of Art had an answer every time NNU attempted to pull away. Midway through the second half they came all the way back to make it a four-point game with under ten minutes to play, but the Crusaders retook control with back-to-back layups to make it an eight-point game heading into the media timeout with 3:42 to go.

Despite keeping it close throughout, ART U was just not able to put together both the offensive bucket and defensive stop needed to put them over the top. Czar Robotham had 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, but the Crusaders ended the game with three players in double-figures, including a double-double from Michal Kurimsky, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Maza and Ameer Shamsud-din each had 14 points for ART U, but the first half deficit proved to be the difference in the game.

The Urban Knights will return home and head to Belmont to start conference play against PacWest rival Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 1 before starting their home PacWest slate against Holy Names on Dec. 8 at Kezar Pavilion.