FRESNO, Calif. – Academy of Art men's basketball completed a five-game win streak for the second time this season after their 72-49 victory over Fresno Pacific as the squad came back from an early deficit and dominated the rest of the way on Saturday night in Special Events Center.

"Tonight I was really impressed with our defensive effort," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We did a great job executing our game plan and made some great plays on that end of the floor. Offensively, to have 20 assists showed we were unselfish and bought into each other. This was great momentum as we go into the final week of the regular season with a lot at stake."

The Sunbirds' record drops to 7-20 overall and 5-13 in the Pacific West Conference standings as the Urban Knights improve to 19-7 overall and 14-4 in conference and clinch the tournament's second seed at minimum which earns them bye in the first round of PacWest postseason action.

FPU came out of the gates hot once again against the Knights, jumping out to a 11-0 run to start the game while the Knights responded right away with a double-digit run of their own to find their first lead with the score at 12-11. With baskets going back and forth while the game saw multiple lead changes midway through the first half, ART U finally found momentum to create a 13-point lead at the break with the score now set at 35-22.

Coming out of halftime, the Knights maintained their double-digit lead throughout the entirety of the closing frame with the squad finding a breakthrough in the back half, doubling their advantage to as many as 25 points before the game settled with a 72-49 final.

Junior forward Jamal Fuller led the team in points off the bench once again (20) while he shot 8-for-12 from the field and tacked on his season-high in assists (7). Senior forward Latrell Williams led the starters in scoring (15) as he collected the team-high in rebounds as well (9). Junior guard Rodney Munson also scored double-digit points for the squad (11) with redshirt sophomore guard Eli Taylor next up in points (9) as he went a perfect 3-for-3 on the day from the field. While multiple nights shined in scoring, it was junior forward Isaiah Williams leading the team in steals (4) with junior guard Treylon Payne and Eli Taylor collecting two apiece.

Harrison Pennisi led FPU in scoring (13 points) with a trio of Sunbirds not far behind him with Isaac Peralta (12), Kyle Monk (10), and Ryan Abbott (9) all next up. With only two other members of FPU finding a bucket and both scoring no more than three points, ART U held Fresno Pacific's offense to just 49 points total, the fourth-lowest the Knights have given up in ART U program history, and the lowest since Feb. 13, 2022.

With just two games to go in the regular season, the Knights will return home to host Biola next on Thursday, Feb. 29, tipping-off at 7:30 p.m. at Laney College gym.