SAN DIEGO – In the highly-anticipated rematch of the #4 and #5 seeds in the west, Saint Martin's was defeated in overtime by the Urban Knights.
 
The Saints (24-7, 15-3 GNAC) looked to avenge their November loss to Academy of Art (22-9, 14-6 PacWest) as the two teams squared up in #4 vs #5 matchup in the NCAA West Region Tournament. SMU had five double-digit scorers led by Kyle Greeley who had his second-highest scoring performance of the season with 27 points and five rebounds. Hunter Sipe had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds and Shakeem Alcindor just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Tyke Thompson had a busy night of 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Branden Bunn was the final double-digit scorer with 12 points. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner made his return and led the Saints in assists (7) and steals (3).
 
Academy of Art scored the first four points before Nielsen-Skinner drained a floater to put Saint Martin's on the board. For most of the first half the two teams traded blows until the Urban Knights used an 18-7 run to hold their largest lead of the first half, 34-25 with four minutes left in the half. The SMU offense found their rhythm and closed out the half with a 14-4 run to head into the break with a 39-38 lead.
 
In the second half, there wasn't much breathing room for either team. The Saints managed to string some points together to pull away and with just under seven minutes remaining, Saint Martin's held a 74-66 lead. The Urban Knights used a 7-1 run to tie the game up 78-78 with 2:45 left in regulation. Greeley gave SMU the lead and after Academy of Art tied it up he have Saint Martin's the lead again with a pull up jumper at the one minute mark. The Urban Knights tied the game up again with 38 seconds left and fouled Greeley with 18 seconds remaining but he could not convert the front end of the one-and-one opportunity and the game went to overtime.
 
Alcindor gave the Saints the lead to begin overtime, and Thompson put the Saints back ahead after the Urban Knights had tied the game up. Alcindor followed up with another layup and with just over three minutes remaining SMU led 88-84. Academy of Art responded and tied the game up 88-88 with 2:28 remaining and put themselves ahead 90-88 with a minute remaining in overtime. The following possession Saint Martin's had three offensive rebounds but could not get the ball through the net to tie the game back up.
 
The Saints had chances but the main crux was their struggles from the free throw line down the stretch. SMU shot 15-25 from the charity stripe, missing three of their last four in regulation and four of their five chances in overtime.
 
The Urban Knights put the game away at the line and defeated the Saints, 93-89.
 
Head coach Aaron Landon reflected on the game and the overall success of the season with, "Tonight we lost to a tough and well coached Academy of Art team. Credit them and their toughness, we fought but they made the winning plays that tilted the game their way. 
This doesn't take away anything from the remarkable year that we've had. I'm the luckiest guy in the world, I get to coach exceptional young men and work with a staff that I love. I'm grateful to our seniors, they have done a ton for their teammates, this program and the university."
 
This concludes the 2022-23 season for the GNAC regular season champion Saint Martin's men's basketball team.