Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault, Meg Williams, Austin McKeon, Bob Toy, & Rob Garcia)

San Francisco, CA -- Behind a stellar defensive effort and a double-double from freshman Bryan Fisher, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team rolled to their second home victory of the season against Bay Bridge rival Holy Names University. The Knights shot 54% from the floor and pulled away in the second half to coast to their largest margin of victory in program history in the 72-55 triumph.


Neither team made a field goal for the first two and a half minutes, with Ameer Shamsud-din making a layup on the assist from Fisher to make it a 4-0 ballgame. The Urban Knights (2-5, 1-1 PWC) continued to hold the lead throughout the first half, stretching the lead to nine on a three-pointer from Fisher with 3:41 to go. Before the end of the half, the Knights had pushed that lead to 12 on a trey from Czar Robotham with under a minute to play, and the teams went into halftime with the score at 35-23.

In the first half the Urban Knights held the Hawks to only 36% shooting from the field, often times taking Holy Names (1-6, 0-2 PWC) all the way down to the final seconds of the shot clock and getting the pressure needed to get out in front. The Knights also forced nine turnovers in the opening period, scoring 18 points off of Hawks mistakes in the first half alone.

"We set the tone defensively," said head coach Julius Barnes. "Our guys came out and they got after it on the defensive end. I've been telling our guys all along that defense will lead into offense for us. That really helped us set the tone."

That production continued into the second half, and the Urban Knights continued to build on the momentum and the lead that they had already built up. Holy Names scored the first six points out of the break to cut the lead in half on a layup by Tyler Fry, but after a timeout that included some fiery rhetoric from the ART U coaching staff, the Knights went to work and didn't stop until the whistle blew.

Fisher had a steal, one of his school-record six takeaways on the night, and then found Akil Johnson down in the post, and then Ivan "B.J." Prema, Jr. drained a three to make it 40-29. The two teams traded buckets, but the Knights got a jumper from Ameer Shamsud-din to make it 44-34 and the Hawks could never cut the lead to single digits for the remainder of the second half.

The real dagger came right at the 11-minute mark, when Mike Jorritsma grabbed a rebound and threw it ahead to Czar Robotham, who made the layup and drew a foul. He completed the three-point play to put ART U up 50-37, and the Knights coasted with a double-digit lead the rest of the way. Robotham had 13 points on the night and also chipped in three assists, which put him over the 200-assist mark in his career. Robotham is the only Urban Knight in history to score over 500 points and total 200 assists.

"Bryan's a dynamic player, and we knew that when we saw him this summer," said Barnes. "He came out and he really did his thing. He took advantage of opportunities to drive and draw help, and then kick to the open guy. We're fortunate to have him on our team and to be able to do so many things with his skills."

The Knights got great performances all around, with Fisher becoming the third Urban Knight with a double-double this year.  Akil Johnson, appearing in his first game at Kezar Pavilion, almost had a double-double of his own, but led all scorers with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Johnson is now shooting 72% from the floor, and the redshirt freshman also led the team with eight rebounds. Fisher, who had 13 points and 11 assists, almost had a triple-double after setting a school record with six steals.

"It means a lot to get the double-double, but it means even more to get that second win," said Fisher. "Especially at home. It feels good not to lose here."

Academy of Art established their presence in the key early, dominating the Hawks physically underneath the basket, scoring 40 points in the paint to HNU's 24 and out rebounding Holy Names 34-28. They also shot at a 67% clip for the second half en route to the win. They'll play again at Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 15 before the final home game of the calendar year on Dec. 19 against Simon Fraser on Dec. 19 in a rematch with the Canadian GNAC opponent, the first since the Knights thrilling 84-83 win last year.