OAKLAND, Calif. – Academy of Art men's basketball showed why they are one of the toughest teams to beat in the paint within the Pacific West Conference on Thursday night against Dominican, scoring more than half of their points in the painted area and ending with the victory as the squad held off a late DUC comeback attempt, finishing with a 83-80 final.

"We will take tonight's win as there were some good moments throughout, and we will continue to build by playing more consistently," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We shared the ball well and played hard, and look forward to an even better performance Saturday. Credit to Dominican for their persistence and playing through the final horn, but at this point in the year, we will take the win."

This victory furthers the Urban Knights' lead in the PacWest Conference standings, with their now 18-7 overall record and 13-4 conference record. After the game, Dominican drops to 10-16 overall and 7-11 in conference, still looking to sneak their way into a playoff spot with less than two weeks to go. 

While the Knights jumped out to an early 13-point lead within the first 10 minutes of the contest, ART U controlled the majority of the opening frame working off nearly 49 percent shooting from the field and holding a lead of as many as 15 points before halftime arrived. In the first half, junior guard Rodney Munson and junior forward Quintin Metcalf tallied up the shared team-high in points (10 apiece) and the Knights headed to the locker room up 45-33.

The Penguins came out of the break ready to show why their previous matchup with Academy of Art ended up going into double overtime, as they steadily climbed back into the game with quality shooting from all angles and beyond the arc. Getting as close as just three points midway through the half, DUC hung around right behind ART U throughout the clutch, but could never find a breakthrough as the Knights built that lead back up to 13 points at a moment and made another push toward the eventual 83-80 victory.

The Knights saw their team-high in points come from the bench, as junior forward Jamal Fuller put up the most on ART U (19 points), with Munson up there with him (18 points). Metcalf would follow next in points (14), while junior guard Allen Taylor would also reached double digits (10). Senior forward Latrell Williams led the team in rebounds (11) and blocks (3), while Allen Taylor and junior guard Treylon Payne shared the team-high in steals (3).

There was a clear core-four in terms of scoring for Dominican this time around, as Garrett Siebels led the team in points (21), along with Brendon Johnson (20), Marcus McCutchen (17), and Carter Plousha (10) totaling double-digit points. 

The Knights will next play their last road game of the regular season, as the squad will travel to Fresno Pacific for a one-game trip on Saturday, Feb. 24 with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the Special Events Center.