OAKLAND, Calif. – The 2022 calendar year came to a close with a bang for Academy of Art men's basketball, as ART U eclipsed the 90-point mark for the second time in as many games by dropping 52 points in the second frame, eliminating an early first-half deficit to ultimately take down HNU 97-82 in Pacific West Conference action on Friday. 

"Coming back from the break, this was a good one to get," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We didn't play our best basketball, but as the game went along we started to find our footing and had a couple nice runs to extend our lead. [There's] still a lot of work to do, but we can't rest as we have another huge road game coming up on Monday."

After trading buckets in an early feeling-out period, the Hawks (4-10, 1-5 PacWest) were the first to grab the game's momentum with a 10-0 run that featured a pair of 3-pointers and a layup off of a turnover. Not even a 30-second timeout slowed HNU, as they connected again from deep minutes later to push the lead to nine, their largest in the game with seven and a half minutes until the break. 

A triple on the subsequent possession from graduate student guard Will Balata was the Urban Knights' (8-4, 3-3 PacWest) response, but ART U was not able to cut the HNU lead to one possession until the five minute mark. Both teams went up-and-down the court finding easy offense, with the lead fluctuating through the majority of the remaining time. 

Putting the cap on the half was ART U, producing an 8-0 run that featured a layup from junior forward Latrell Williams and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Rodney Munson, finally ending with three straight free throws to hold a 45-42 advantage. Williams was key in the comeback and was well on his way to a double-double with 10 points and six rebounds in the first 20 minutes. 

Again the teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the second frame, but this time it was Academy of Art seizing the game's momentum using a 10-0 run of their own to turn a six-point edge into a 16-point cushion. While ART U knocked down 44.4 percent of their shot attempts in the first half, they truly found their stroke in the second frame by going 22-for-39 (56.4 percent) from the field, and generated much of their offense through the post with only five 3-pointers in the game and 52 points scored in the paint. 

Despite facing a deficit as large as 21 points, the largest ART U lead of the game, the Hawks continued to push down the stretch and find some buckets but ultimately ran out of time. Today's win marked the third in the past four games for the Knights, all victories coming in PacWest action, and the ninth consecutive ART U victory over Holy Names. This also marked the third time in the past four contests that ART U has eclipsed the 90-point barrier against the Hawks. 

Overall it was the second consecutive game for ART U reaching 90 or more points, falling one shy of their season-high mark they set last time out against Biola before the holiday break, as they are nearly halfway to matching the five times they did so in 2021-22. This win marks the second straight year and only the third instance in program history that ART U has posted consecutive 90-point performances, doing so last year against Dominican on Dec. 4 and Concordia on Dec. 9 after first accomplishing the feat in 2019-20 against Holy Names and UH Hilo (all three instances have come under Waterman). 

Putting up an impressive 20-point and 12-rebound double-double was Williams, with both totals marking season-highs for the forward. Leading the total of five Urban Knights to score in double figures was senior guard Klay Brown with 23 points which he paired with nine rebounds.  Meanwhile senior forward Mike Asante and sophomore forward Jamal Fuller chipped in 15 points apiece, with Asante grabbing eight rebounds and Fuller snatching seven. Five of ART U's 15 assists belonged to Brown, while Balata and Brown each had two steals.

The road trip for Academy of Art continues in 2023, as the Urban Knights ring in the new year on a victory before heading south to take on Fresno Pacific at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 2.