Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault)

San Mateo, CA -- The Academy of Art men's basketball team kept up their high-powered offensive play on Thursday night, but visiting Grand Canyon University just never slowed down from the floor, making 13 shots from beyond the arc as they defeated the Knights 105-78. The Urban Knights had a career night from Bryan Fisher, who put up 22 points and four assists, but the Antelopes' Killian Larson had a game-high 25 points as the opposition shot 56 percent from the floor to saddle the Knights with a loss.

The game started off well for ART U, who took an immediate 3-2 lead after Ameer Shamsud-din knocked down a 3-pointer on their first possession. But from there, Braylon Pickrel made three of the four 'Lopes shots from beyond the arc over the next four minutes, and a couple possessions later GCU had a 32-16 lead with 11:03 to play.

The Knights attempted to chip away, but Grand Canyon didn't abate in their attack, stretching the lead to 20 points with three minutes in the first half before going into the break up 54-37. It was a physical game to start, with 23 combined fouls and 31 free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes.

Fisher came alive in the second half for Academy of Art, scoring the first bucket of the period a minute in for two of his 14 second-half points. On the other bench, Grand Canyon just continued to shoot, and continued to have shots fall. Another 3-pointer, this time from Brad Carroll, pushed the lead back over 20, making it a 69-48 Antelopes advantage with 14:56 left.

The Knights weren't giving up, and had some extremely efficient play all the way up and down the roster. Aaron Aikman converted a three-point play to cut the lead to 16 at the halfway point, and ended the game with seven points on a perfect night shooting (3-3 FG, 1-1 FT). Rodrigo Maza had a similar night in the paint, scoring 13 points on another perfect night (4-4 FG, 5-5 FT).

The second half proved to be just as physical for both teams, as they combined for another 21 fouls and 27 attempts from the charity stripe in the closing 20 minutes. Grand Canyon used those free throws to build their lead and slow the tempo down for the rest of the game, disrupting an Urban Knights offense that thrives when it can get out on the break and run.

Academy of Art only managed six points off fast breaks, but in the same vein only allowed eight fast break points from the 'Lopes. What really hurt the Knights were points off turnovers, as GCU was able to turn 15 takeaways into 27 points. Aside from that stat, the game ended up matched up very balanced. Academy of Art outscored Grand Canyon in the paint (32-30), were just behind in free throws made (28-25), and weren't blown out on the boards by one of the better teams in the conference (31-25).

Larson ended up leading all scorers with 25 points and nine rebounds for GCU, as he shot 8-for-11 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the line. Justin Foreman chipped in 17 points for the Lopes on a 5-for-7 night from the field (3-3 3pt).

For the Knights, the 22 points from Fisher were a career high, and his four assists gave him 82 on the season, the fourth-highest single-season total and moving into the seventh spot in career assists as well. Shamsud-din added 11 points and five assists to make him the second player in program history with over 800 points, while Aaron Anderson also had 11 points.

The Knights, who played Thursday night's game at the nearby College of San Mateo, will host Fresno Pacific University on Saturday at Cal State East Bay.