A disappointing first-half shooting percentage was too much for UTM to overcome the University of San Francisco in the first round of the Guardians Classic played Monday night in Southwest Missouri State’s Hammons Center.

San Francisco denied the Skyhawks a chance to advance to Tuesday’s regional championship at the Hammons Center with a 73-62 setback. The Skyhawks shot 23 percent from the field in the first half as they hit 9-of-39 attempts. San Francisco took advantage of the dismal shooting effort and built a 36-22 lead at halftime.

“Despite shooting the ball so poorly in the first half, our effort was there tonight against a very good San Francisco team,” said Skyhawk head coach Bret Campbell.

The Skyhawks rallied in the second half and found the bucket. They cut San Francisco’s lead to six points, 36-30, with 16:34 to play in the game. The Skyhawks used an 8-0 run to cut into the deficit.

San Francisco stretched its lead back to 12 points with 12:41 to play, but the Skyhawks fought back and cut the lead to six points on two different occasions, once with 5:08 to play and a second time with 4:20 to go.

Senior Earl Bullock knocked down four three-pointers in a nine-minute stretch. Bullock finished the game with 16 points. He was 5-for-14 from the field.

With 3:24 to play in the game, junior Jeremy Kelly cut the lead to six points with a lay-up. Once again San Francisco pulled away, this time the Dons used a 9-2 run to build a 13-point cushion, 71-58, with 48 seconds to play.

Kelly led the Skyhawks with 17 points and seven rebounds.

San Francisco was led by James Bayless with 16 points. Andre Hazel and John Cox added 10 points each to the Dons’ tally. The Skyhawks were to play Western Illinois Tuesday in the second round.