OAKLAND, Calif. –It was a dominant performance by the Academy of Art men's basketball team on Thursday, setting two program records in the process of a 99-85 Pacific West Conference victory over Holy Names at Merritt College. 
 
"We did a great job of attacking the paint tonight," said ART U head coach Scott Waterman. "We executed our game plan and when you run our sets the right way, good things happen. We were able to get great looks and we took advantage of them.
 
Ball movement and hot shooting were the theme of the night for the Urban Knights (9-15, 7-10 PacWest), as they set new marks for shooting percentage and assists in the win over the Hawks (8-16, 6-12 PacWest). After shooting 75.9 percent (22-for-29) from the field in the first half, ART U made half of their looks in the second frame to finish the contest at 62.7 percent (37-for-59) overall, breaking the record of 61.1 percent (33-for-54) set against Simon Fraser in an 84-83 win on Dec. 10, 2011. Taking high percentage shots was a result of the 26 assists on the night, topping the 24 against The Master's College on Dec. 30, 2011. 
 
"One of the big things is that we finally bought into what we've been talking about playing as a team all year," Waterman said. "We shared the ball tonight and played as a team, and when you do those things you'll get those 26 assists. 
 
Three different Urban Knights got buckets during a 7-0 run to start the game before an HNU 3-pointer, but then the Hawks would be held scoreless over the next five and a half minutes. A 17-0 run during that time for ART U would give them a comfortable lead, with junior guard Stefan Milivojevic responsible for 12 points over that span, most of which came on assisted buckets from redshirt senior guard Victor Ruiz de Carranza. Milivojevic would end the first half with 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, with ART U up 54-30 at the break.
 
While the Hawks would cut the lead to 11 at one point, the Urban Knights were able to stay on the gas pedal and put the game away down the stretch. The 99 points in the win are a season best and the third-best mark in program history. The all-time record is 107 points, which has been done twice previously, the last of which came in a 107-94 victory on Nov. 21, 2014 over Simon Fraser.
 
ART U was 13-for-20 from downtown, which is the most 3-point field goals made in a single game, topping the previous best of 11 which had been done three times, the last of which was Nov. 28, 2015 against San Francisco State. That performance from deep equates to 65.0 percent, which is the second-best percentage in school history, behind the record of 68.8 percent that happened against Sonoma State on Nov. 21, 2015. 
 
Along with team records comes personal records, as Milivojevic ended with a career-best 32 points on 13-for-16 shooting, topping his old best of 31 that came earlier this season on Nov. 27, 2019 against Chico State. This performance moves Milivojevic into fourth place all-time in scoring, passing Alexis Moore's (788; 2013-15), and now trailing third place Alex Carmon (809; 2012-14) by one point. The 13 buckets tie the second-most field goals in school history, last done by Phillip Samuel against American Sports University on Feb. 7, 2009.
 
Four other Urban Knights reached double-figures, including senior guard Nemanja Kovacevic pouring in a career-best 17 points, topping his previous best of 14 against Dixie State on Nov. 23, 2018. Redshirt junior guard Dante Williams had 16 points in the matchup, and junior forward Josh Hill posted 14 with nine rebounds. Ruiz de Carranza also had a career-best in the contest with nine assists, beating his previous mark of seven that happened three times, the last of which occurred just a few games ago against Fresno Pacific on Feb. 6, 2020. 
 
Zamaria Odom's 24 points led the Hawks, as he made six buckets from beyond the arc and seven field goals overall. Just behind Odom was Justin Chambers, who had 23 on 6-for-13 shooting. 
 
"We came out tonight in a tough environment in having to play a home game on the road, and I'm proud of our guys for doing it the right way tonight," Waterman said. "We could have quit with the adversity of not being at Kezar [Pavilion}, but we came out and played hard and executed, and good things happened."
 
Next up on the schedule is a matchup with No. 6 seed UH Hilo, with tip-off set for 3:30 on Saturday from the Conlan Center.