SAN DIEGO – Fighting to keep the season alive, clutch shots and stiff defense at the end of regulation helped forced an extra period of play where No. 5 seed Academy of Art men's basketball was able to put away No. 4 seed Saint Martin's down the stretch, holding on for a 93-89 overtime win in the NCAA DII West Regional for ART U's first ever NCAA Division II Tournament victory. 

"What a great game and team win this was tonight," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "All seven guys made major contributions and even when we were down, we continued to battle and I am so proud of our guys for the incredible effort they gave. Offensively, we did a great job of sharing the ball and defensively we got key stops and turnovers. Even when it went to overtime, I knew we had put ourselves in a good position, and credit to our guys for making big plays when it mattered."

The Urban Knights (22-9, 14-6 PacWest) put the first bucket on the board with a fastbreak layup from senior guard Klay Brown that followed a steal from graduate student guard Stephon Hall, but action proceeded to swing back-and-forth throughout the majority of the first half as the period in total featured 11 lead changes. Neither team put together any runs of major significance, though 3-pointers on consecutive possessions from sophomore forward Jamal Fuller and sophomore guard Rodney Munson helped give ART U a nine-point lead, the largest for any team in the entire contest. 

Just as it seemed the Knights could pull away, the Saints (24-7, 15-3 GNAC) came marching back into the game as a 10-2 stretch for Saint Martin's brought the game back to level with just under two minutes to go in the half. Each of the last five points before the break came from the free throw line, with SMU one-upping Academy of Art to take the slimmest of margins into the break, 39-38. The first half was so level, that both teams finished with the exact same shooting from the floor by going 11-for-33 (33.3 percent) in the first period of play. Even beyond the arc there was little difference, as both team hit 37.5 percent of their attempts with Saint Martin's 6-for-16 while ART U was 3-for-8. 

It was a nearly perfect reversal of the script in the second half, as following the first five minutes of play where the lead continued to go back-and-forth like a pendulum, this time it was the Saints that established control as they built and maintained a small but steady lead for nearly 13 full minutes. Towards the end of that stretch it seemed as if SMU might be the team to pull away, extending their lead to three possessions (eight points) on two different occasions, but a smaller 7-1 run for Academy of Art saw them knot the game at 78-78 with 2:45 left on the clock. 

Saint Martin's had the chance to go up two possessions after they initially took the lead back following the tie game, even collecting an offensive rebound for multiple tries, but a big board from graduate student guard Will Balata led to a fastbreak jumper from Munson to tie it again. Again SMU connected on their next possession following a time out, putting the pressure on the Knights to counter, and ready to do so was Brown as he cashed a jumper following one of ART U's timeouts that kept the contest square.

A third time Saint Martin's had a chance to win as they got sent to the free throw line with just 18 seconds left on the clock in regulation, but the first half of a one-and-one from SMU's Kyle Greely was off the mark. Though Academy of Art controlled the rebound and had their own game-winning attempt, the 3-pointer from Brown couldn't find the bottom of the net. 

Continuing the pattern from the end of regulation, Saint Martin's got the opening bucket of the extra frame and after a missed free throw, the Saints collected three separate offensive rebounds but were unable to convert any of them into points. A layup from Balata equalized the score, until yet again the Saints pulled back in front with back-to-back layups of their own for a four-point edge. 

For a contest that featured a good amount of offense, it was the defense on display down the stretch and it was started on a key stretch from graduate student guard Deang Deang. After his jumper made it a one-possession contest, he came up with a big steal that led Brown into a fastbreak layup at the other end for another tie game. That helped Academy of Art ratchet up the pressure on defense, as they contested nearly every shot attempt and held SMU to just one point over the final three minutes. 

Now sitting in the driver's seat as the game neared its conclusion, the Urban Knights were looking to make clutch free throws down the stretch as Saint Martin's went into foul mode. Entering the night hitting on only 65.1 percent of their free throws, they made three crucial attempts in the closing moments and ended the game going 27-for-34 (79.4 percent) from the charity stripe, their most made free throws in any game this season. Clutch in overtime was Deang, who had six of ART U's 11 points to go with a pair of steals, which helped him end the night with a team-high of four. 

Following ART U's first ever 20-win regular season, Academy of Art now has another memorable moment as they claimed their first ever NCAA West Regional victory, and it came on a night where the Knights forced 14 turnovers by the Saints that led to 19 points (topped SMU 19-7 in category). It earns Academy of Art a spot in the West Region Semifinal, where ART U will meet a familiar foe in site host, No. 1 seed and No. 4 in the nation Point Loma after the Sea Lions used a strong second half to overcome GNAC Tournament winner No. 8 seed Northwest Nazarene. The Knights will be looking to avenge their two losses at the hands of PLNU this season, the second of which was decided by just three points.

It was another well-rounded night in terms of ART U scoring, with four in double figures including two 20-point games as the season-high 24 from Deang led the way on a total of 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) shooting with six rebounds. Meanwhile, Brown was everywhere on the floor and nearly had a triple-double though he settled for a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double that also featured a career-high tying eight assists, two blocks and two steals.

Pouring in 17 points off the bench was Fuller as his streak of hitting double-digits was extended to nine games (19 total times on season is ART U high), also adding seven rebounds while Munson chipped in 11 points. As a unit, the Knights finished at just 41.4 percent overall (29-for-70), though they did go over 45 percent in both the second half (46.7 percent, 14-for-30) and overtime (57.1 percent, 4-for-7). 

The season rolls on tomorrow in the NCAA West Region Semifinal, as the tip between the No. 5 seed Urban Knights and No. 1 seed Sea Lions will get underway at 7:30 p.m.