San Rafael, Calif. – Dominican University of California men's basketball fell to conference foe Academy of Art University by a score of 63-52 on Saturday.
 
Dominican jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead after a Michael Diaz 3-pointer was preceded by baskets from Jake Blazona and Justin Brown, but the lead was soon squandered due to a 6-0 Urban Knight run. Sophomore Adam Parker laid the ball in to put Dominican back up by a bucket, but a short 5-0 Art U run gave it a 12-9 lead.
 
Chase Anderson got in on the action for the Penguins midway through the first half, draining a jumper to pull the Penguins back within a bucket. Art U matched the Anderson basket with a dunk followed by a 3-pointer with graduate student Anthony Dennis providing temporary relief in the form of a mid-range jumper. Graduate student Michael Diaz pulled Dominican even closer with a shot from beyond the arc, but it was soon match by a Christian Popoola 3-pointer for the Urban Knights.
 
Zamaria Odom etched more points under his name on the score seheet with just over a minute remaining when he created separation from his defender before knocking down a bucket from near the corner, followed by a Justin Brown layup that came after another Art U basket. A Mike Asante bucket put Art U up five with 11 seconds remaining, but sharpshooting from the free throw line courtesy of Justin Brown brought Dominican within three as Art U held onto a 32-29 at the half.
 
Parker welcomed the foes back to the floor with a layup to mark the first basket of the final frame, but baskets on consecutive possessions but Art U back up by five. Blazona drained a triple with 16:30 remaining on the clock to bring his team back within two as the teams began to, once again, trade baskets. Odom matched the next Art U basket with a mid-range jumper before Justin Brown did the same following another Urban Knights basket. The duo of Odom and Justin Brown kept firing as the Urban Knights offense also kept rolling, with the two teammates bringing their team within one after hitting a short jumper.
 
The trend of trading baskets continued over the ensuing minutes with Art U never gaining more than a six-point lead until there was just 4:02 remaining in the matchup. Asante pulled his team to victory in the latter stages of the game when he drove the lane for a layup before knocking down a shot from distance, putting his team up by 11. The 11-point deficit would prove to be the difference as Art U later walked off the floor with a 63-52 victory on the road.
 
Blazona, Diaz and Justin Brown all finished the contest with 12 points apiece while also leading their squad in the rebound column with 8, 6 and 4 rebounds, respectively.