LACEY, Wash. – In the highly anticipated powerhouse matchup against two of the top schools in the D-II west region, Academy of Art held on to defeat the Saints, 78-73.
 
Kyle Greeley was the lead scorer for SMU (5-1, 0-0 GNAC) with 22 points on 8/13 shooting from the field to go along with his seven rebounds. Branden Bunn (15) and Tyke Thompson (11) were the other two double-digit scorers for the Saints with Thompson leading the team in rebounds with eight. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner led the team in assists with five to go along with his eight points.
 
Both teams understood the gravity of the match and brought out their best defense from the opening tip and it was three minutes into play before Greeley hit the first basket of the game. The Urban Knights (5-1, 0-0 PacWest) went on an early 14-0 run to put them up 19-8 with 10 minutes left in the half before Hunter Sipe drilled a three-pointer to stop the bleeding for SMU. Saint Martin's responded with a 12-5 run to bring the game to 26-23 with six minutes left in the half. The Academy of Art made some timely shots to close out the half and SMU went into the locker room down 39-30.
 
The Saints spent half of the second half chipping away at the deficit and with 10 minutes left in the half, it was a brand new ballgame knotted up at 54-54 after a layup by Bunn. Christian Haffner followed up that basket with a three and Saint Martin's held their first lead since early in the first half. SMU jumped out to a small lead before the Urban Knights responded with a 14-0 run late in the game to put them up 71-62 with just over three minutes left. Greeley and Bunn stayed aggressive and trimmed the lead down while conserving clock with free throws. With just over a minute left the play, the Saints were right back in it with a chance to stamp a massive comeback but a timely offensive rebound by Academy of Art killed the momentum and the Urban Knights escaped with a 78-73 win.
 
Although a heartbreaking loss, it is only the first in a very promising season. The Saints will shake it off and get ready for conference play next week as they head to Nampa, Idaho to face NNU on December 1st. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.