SAN FRANCISCO – Never trailing in their home-opener against Chico State, Academy of Art men's basketball raced out to a double-digit lead within the first five minutes of the tip as ART U returned to the win column with a 105-81 defeat of the Wildcats.

"Tonight was a great bounce back performance," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We played much better on the defensive end, holding them to 38 percent from the field, which is what we expect to do nightly. Offensively, we were unselfish and played with a much better tempo. Looking forward to building off this performance because there is much more room for growth to achieve the goals we have set for the year." 

Finishing the game with the third-most points in program history and the most since 2014, the Urban Knights, now 2-1 overall, jumped ahead with the lead early to finish with 49 in the first half, holding a lead of 19 at the highest in the opening frame. Senior forward Isaiah Williams led the squad in the first half with his 14 points, while senior guard Rodney Munson (10) and senior guard Treylon Payne (9) were right behind with senior forward Quintin Metcalf locking down the boards (6) and junior guard Donovan Vickers dishing out the rock with four assists. With their big first half, the Knights went on to shoot nearly 60 percent from the field en route to their third-highest field goal percentage (.623) in a game in ART U program history. The home team in the Knights went on to enter the half up 49-35.

Throughout the second half, ART U managed to stay up throughout, with the Knights hovering around a 20 point lead for the entirety of the closing frame. Chico attempted to cut the lead down with back-to-back buckets on a few occasions, but the Knights did well to never let up and let the Wildcats within 15. As ART U built their lead back up to 24 points, the game would settle with a 105-81 final in favor of Academy of Art. In addition to ranking in the top three in most points in a game and field goal percentage, the Knights made their ninth-most field goals all-time, knocking down 38.

ART U spread the ball around nicely in the contest with Williams ahead of his squad with 20 points, while Munson (19), Payne (14), Metcalf (14), junior forward Robbie Armbrester (11), and Vickers (10) all joined him in the double-digits in points. Four members of the opposing squad scored double-digits of their own despite dropping to 1-2, as the Wildcats' leading scorer for the game and season in Jojo Murphy paced his team with 20 points.

When the Urban Knights next take the floor, it will be upon arrival in Lacey, Wash. as the squad will take on Saint Martin's next Thursday, Nov. 21 with a 7 p.m. tip.