Men's Basketball 11/6/2010 12:00:00 AM

Aggies Fall to Urban Knights in Exhibition Matchup

Nov. 6, 2010

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team dropped a 67-62 decision verses Academy of Art in an exhibition matchup Saturday, at the Pavillion. Ivan Prema recorded 17 points for the Urban Knights, after shooting 5 of 9 from the field, including a 4 of 7 effort from three. The Aggies were led by Joe Harden's 17-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Despite leading by six late in the game, UC Davis couldn't overcome a six point halftime deficit. After the Aggies led 51-46 midway through the second half, Academy of Art outscored UC Davis 21-11 in the remainder of the game.

The offenses for each team struggled at times in the first half, with five ties and four lead changes in the opening frame. Academy of Art took a 5-0 lead to start the game, thanks to Ivan Prema's three, two minutes into the game.

The Aggies quickly tied the game at five apiece, using a Ryan Sypkens three to even the score. After trading baskets, UC Davis took their first lead of the game on a Mark Payne free throw at the 10:03 mark, making the score 12-11.

A pair of ties would follow, before two more Payne free throws gave the Aggies a 17-15 advantage. From there, the Urban Knights rattled off a 12-3 run, to go up 27-20 with 4:03 on the clock. Academy of Art took their biggest lead of the first half on a Phillip Samuel layup with 1:29 remaining in the half, making the score 31-23.

Mike Kurtz managed a layup in the final minute, bringing the halftime score to 31-25, with the Urban Knights holding the advantage. UC Davis shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half and committed 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Academy of Art extended their lead to eight to start the second half, thanks to a Jonathan Burnett layup. Ryan Howley helped cut the deficit to four at the 17 minute mark, hitting a three that made the score 35-31.

UC Davis started to get going on offense from there, tying the score at 41 on a Howley layup, with 13:23 on the clock. Harden put the Aggies on top 45-44 with 12:07 left to play, giving UC Davis the lead for the first time since the 6:38 mark in the first half.

UC Davis capped off a 16-5 run with a Kurtz offensive rebound and three-point play, that brought score to 51-46 with 8:31 on the clock. The Urban Knights refused to go away however, with a three-point play by Devin Williams that made the score 53-52. Academy of Art took back the lead, 57-55 with 4:21 remaining in the game, thanks to a Czar Robotham three.

After a 7-0 run for the Urban Knights, three straight points for Payne made it a one point game with a 59-58 deficit for UC Davis. Academy of Art responded with a dagger from Prema, who's corner three put the Urban Knights up 62-58.

Academy of Art made just one of four free throw attempts over the next minute, while Payne made four straight at the line, bringing the score to 63-62 with 52 seconds left in the game. Will Overton had a clutch shot in the next possession and after an empty trip for UC Davis, Overton had two free throws to give the Urban Knights a 67-62 advantage with just 12 seconds left to play. The Aggies couldn't manage another score, as Academy of Art held on for the win.

For the game, UC Davis shot 40 percent from the floor, while the Urban Knights shot at a 46 percent clip. Payne was the only other Aggie to reach double-figures, tallying 10 points and five rebounds. For the Urban Knights, Overton turned in all of his 12 points in the second half.

After the game, head coach Gary Stewart gave credit to an improved Academy of the Art team.

"I'm not going to offer up any excuses," said Stewart. "They executed and did exactly what they set out to do tonight. We're at the stage where we have a process by now, set up on both ends of the ball. We haven't offensively turned in a great performance yet and defensively we haven't as well. There are certain things that we are asking not only our new people, but our returners to do, that we haven't done before."

UC Davis will start the regular season season next weekend, when they travel to play three games in the Athletes in Action Classic in Portland, Ore., starting with with Florida Atlantic on Friday at 4 p.m.