Rodney Munson
Tim Heiduk
70
San Fran. St. SFSU 0-1,0-0 CCAA
76
Winner Academy of Art ARTU 1-0,0-0 PacWest
San Fran. St. SFSU
0-1,0-0 CCAA
70
Final
76
Academy of Art ARTU
1-0,0-0 PacWest
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
San Fran. St. SFSU 25 45 70
Academy of Art ARTU 42 34 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Knights Open 2024-25 Season With Victory Against SF State

SAN FRANCISCO – Beginning its 2024-25 campaign strong, Academy of Art men's basketball took on SF State in the CCAA/PacWest Challenge where the Urban Knights came out with the 76-70 victory with flashes both offensively and defensively from numerous members of the squad.

"It was great to get back on the floor in a countable game," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "Tonight was a game of runs by both teams and our defensive intensity in the second half weathered SF State's run and allowed us to take the game. This was a great foundation for us to build upon and the great thing is we can get back to it tomorrow."

In the opening minutes of the game, it was all redshirt junior guard Donovan Vickers for ART U as he started the battle a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range. It was the back half of the opening frame where the Knights started to really pull away from the Gators with multiple scoring runs that got them up to as much as 42-25 as the game entered halftime. Senior forward Isaiah Williams showed the new-look squad what he could do offensively down the stretch, as he ended the frame with 13 points while Vickers led the team with 15 at the break. On the defensive end, ART U was all over SF State with eight steals as six different members of the squad collected at least one, while the team collectively brought in 18 rebounds.

Eli TaylorNow in the closing frame, SF State looked like a brand new team coming out of halftime as the Gators scored just as many points as the first half in the first eight minutes of the second (25). It took a 25-8 run from SFSU in order to do so, but as soon as the Knights saw the Gators back in it they took off once again. Although SF State brought the game back to even, they never took over the lead as ART U immediately used their own 13-0 run to go back up by double-digits with just under eight minutes remaining. 

Trading baskets for the next few minutes, the Gators got themselves back within five and saw some momentum, but senior guard Rodney Munson responded with a huge three-pointer to rebuild the lead to an eight-point gap. The bucket by Munson essentially shut the door on a comeback, as SF State could never get back within five as the match would conclude with its 76-70 final score.

Williams ended the game as the leader in points with 24 (just two off his career-high), while Vickers was next up with 19 of his own. With Munson leading the squad in rebounds (7), he and redshirt junior Eli Taylor each racked up four assists apiece. The Knights demonstrated their same defensive intensity from last season, as ART U finished with 14 steals, with Vickers (4) and Taylor (3) bringing in the most.

Academy of Art will be back at it tomorrow as the Knights will close out the CCAA/PacWest Challenge against the host school in the Seawolves with a 7 p.m. tip-off.