Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- After battling down the stretch of their second PacWest conference matchup of the week, the Academy of Art University men's basketball team ended up short of California Baptist University, falling 64-51 to the Lancers on Thursday night. Rodrigo Maza had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds but the Urban Knights couldn't get any other pieces moving in the loss. 

"We played well for 30 minutes," said head coach Julius Barnes. "Then, that last ten minute stretch, we weren't able to knock down shots, we weren't able to get defensive rebounds, we sent them to the line way too many times, so I think we've got to focus in a little more on the defensive side of the ball."

Just like their first game this week, it was a close battle in the first half that really took a long while to get going. By the time the game reached its first media timeout at 15:44, the score was only 4-3, with the advantage to the Lancers. They would get the lead as high as five, leading 16-11 at the 10:30 mark, but the Knights would close the gap, and with 7:45 to go Maza was fouled on a rebound and made both free throws to give the Knights a 17-16 lead. A layup by Maza with 21 seconds left gave ART U a 29-26 lead, but Geoff McIntosh hit a three-pointer with time winding down in the first half and both teams went into the locker room with 29 points. 

In the second half, the Knights jumped out to an early lead, stretching it as far as six points with 16:19 to play when a jumper by Moore made it 39-33. But then CBU took the lead as the Knights got cold from the floor, as Ryan Berg made a three-pointer that made it a six-point lead the other way with just under 11 minutes to go. They would make it up to a 13-point game on a three-point play from Kevin Crabb with 4:43 left, and the Knights actually cut the deficit back down to six when Sergio Valdeolmillos slashed to the layup, but ART U couldn't get it any closer than that, as California Baptist scored the last seven points of the game to take the victory.

Alex Carmon finished with 13 points to lead the Knights, followed by Maza's double-double. Berg had 17 points for the Lancers, while Crabb also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Knights outshot the Lancers from the field, but the big difference came at the line, where CBU took 24 free throws and made 19, while the Knights took 19 and made less than 50 percent.

"We've got some time off. A couple of guys are beat down so we'll take some time and get ready for Dominican next week," said Barnes. "The focus is going to be on being disciplined and executing, especially when we're tired."

The Knights have nine days until their next game, another home game against Golden Gate rival Dominican University on December 14th.