SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Vanguard men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in a 79-67 defeat to Academy of Art on Thursday night at the San Francisco State Main Gym.
VU led by 10 at the half but shot just 30.6 (11 of 36) percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to drop the Pacific West Conference opener. Vanguard was outscored 53-31 in the second half and wrestled with foul trouble as ARTU took 27 free throw attempts, including 20 in the second period. The tough loss dropped the Blue and Gold to 5-1 overall, while Academy of Art improved to 5-3.
Bryson Metz led the team with a season-high 20 points, three rebounds and three assists, while shooting 8 of 14 from the field. Jackson Larsen had his first double-double for the Lions with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Chiles claimed 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Pape Cisse and Carson Frawley each closed the contest with seven points. ARTU's Rodney Munson sported a career-best 26 points on 9 of 17 shooting to lead all scorers.
What Happened?: Larsen laid out his bag and tallied the first six points of the game for VU as the score was tied 6-6 early on. The Urban Knights grabbed an 11-6 lead, but a powerful punch in the paint from Cisse earned a three-point opportunity as the senior brought the Lions within 11-9.
Cisse's alley-oop finish from an Aibigho Ujadughele dish made it 18-11 ARTU and prompted an 8-3 Lion run to snip the deficit to 21-19. Vanguard took a 24-23 lead off a Metz layup and would not surrender it for the rest of the half. Metz nailed two triples in the concluding possessions of the half and notched 16 points at the break for the 36-26 Vanguard advantage. The Blue and Gold shot 51.7 (15 of 29) percent in the first half. ART U went just 1-7 (14.3%) from deep.
The Urban Knights came out rejuvenated to start the second half. They improved in nearly all statistical categories, but most notably hurt Vanguard in second-chance points (13-6), fast break points (23-14), and points in the paint (44-34). Neither team could find the best rhythm from three-point range, but ARTU's aggression on the glass warranted many three-point opportunities.
Larsen's jumper kept the Lions in front at 38-28, but ARTU's 11-2 run trimmed the Blue and Gold's lead to one. Anthony Tello buried a triple out of the timeout, but Academy of Art continued onward and earned their first lead in nearly 10 minutes of game time, using a Munson triple for the 45-43 advantage.
Frawley's catch-and-shoot three and Metz's pull-up jumper helped regain a 48-45 lead. One of two free throws from Frawley put VU up 49-47, but would mark the final Lion lead of the evening. Peter Gwananji-Kaci's layup gave the Urban Knights a 51-49 lead at the 10:33 mark.
Vanguard endured a seven-minute scoreless drought as a 13-1 ARTU run handed the Urban Knights a 58-49 advantage with 6:09 remaining.
Chiles tried to keep the Blue and Gold close, scoring 11 points over a three-minute span to chop VU's deficit to 71-65 with 2:20 left. However, the margins proved too extensive to reel back control of the game.
What's Next?: The Lions look to recover against Menlo on Saturday, December 7 at 2:00 p.m.
