Box Score

Seaside, CA -- The Academy of Art University men's basketball team has played their fair share of close games this year, but Saturday's non-conference matchup with Cal State Monterey Bay was a hard pill to swallow, as a late charge by the Otters put the game just out of reach for the Knights in the 82-71 loss. Alex Carmon had a career-high 26 points and also added eight rebounds for ART U in the defeat.

"We knew coming in that Monterey would play at a fast pace," said head coach Julius Barnes. "We were able to get stops and get out on the break early on, where I think we've been pretty good. Our guys played well in spurts, but ultimately turnovers down the stretch hurt our chances to win the game."

The Knights and Otters started out the game trading buckets, with both teams running up and down the court for much of the game. After see-sawing back and forth for most of the first half, the Knights eventually took a lead at 21-20 on a free-throw from freshman Bryan Fisher with 7:17 to go, and stretched that lead to as much as five points on a jumper from Ameer Shamsud-din at 4:24.

Cal State Monterey Bay then went to work in the final four minutes of the first half. Alex Fertig, CSUMB's leading scorer this year, tied the game with a three-pointer at 3:11 and the Otters would outscore the Knights 11-4 in the remainder of the half to go into the break with a 33-31 lead. Carmon made two free-throws to end the half, and made 10-of-11 on the night to raise his season percentage to 84% from the line. The 11 free-throws taken were more than two-thirds of the Knights' total, who only took 16 shots from the charity stripe all night.

"Alex continues to improve each game," said Barnes. "He made some key plays with his aggressive moves to the basket. I believe that as he continues to get game experience, his decision making will improve and it will only make him better."

The second half was just as much a roller-coaster as the first, with a total of ten lead changes in the closing period. A triple by Fisher made it 45-42 with 17:20 left, and another three-pointer from Carmon gave the Knights a 62-60 lead with just under 10 minutes to play. But the Otters, just like in the first half, retook the lead and didn't relinquish it.

Shamsud-din nailed down a three to bring the Knights within one point with 6:30 left, but over the next three minutes, Cal State Monterey Bay scored eight straight to push their lead to nine points at 74-65. From there the Knights battled back, but ran out of time, with their best chane coming when Shamsud-din hit a jumper to make it a five-point game with 39 seconds to play.

But CSUMB wouldn't give up the lead again, and as the Knights continued to send them to the free-throw line with under a minute to go, they finished the second half shooting 18-of-20 from the line to secure the game. The Otters capitalized on the Knights struggles to take care of the ball, forcing 21 turnovers by the ART U offense and scoring 23 points off those giveaways.

"We turned the ball over and they capitalized on the opportunities," said Barnes. "Had we been able to string together a few defensive stops late in the game, our chances to win might have been better. It's important to end the year on a high note. Simon Fraser will be a tough opponent and provide us one last test for the upcoming conference schedule." 

The Urban Knights will finish the calendar year with another non-conference matchup against Simon Fraser, a team who they defeated in Canada last year. The two teams will face off next Wednesday night at 7:00 PM at Kezar Pavilion.