SAN FRANCISCO – Clinching a spot in the Pacific West Conference Tournament with their victory, Academy of Art men's basketball took the 58-49 win from Hawaii Pacific after leading for over 87 percent of the contest and allowing the fourth-fewest points opponent points scored in program history.

"This afternoon our defense won us this game," said Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We were intense and did a great job by holding them to 28 percent shooting from the field. Offensively, we just seemed out of rhythm all night so we will get to the bottom of this and be prepared to send our seniors out the right way on Monday."

Starting off hot, the Urban Knights initially led 7-0 jumping out to an early lead, and continued to maintain an advantage for the rest of the opening frame. Although HPU climbed back within three points right before the break, ART U led by as many as nine points on two occasions before the score settled at 27-24 by the time of the first buzzer. Five rebounds and three steals were secured by junior forward Robbie Armbrester in the half, while he also led the team in scoring in the first 20 minutes with 11 points. 

In the second half, the Knights saw the Sharks immediately respond out of the break as the game reached its first tie of the afternoon at 27-27, but ART U reclaimed an advantage nearly five minutes later after neither team scored another point until under 15 and a half minutes left to go. Within the opening 10 minutes of the closing frame, just 13 points were scored total, as both defenses kept the score set at 36-28 before the back game's final fourth. Creating a double-digit lead of 12, ART U glided through the rest of the contest with a multiple-score lead, eventually finalizing with a 58-49 triumph.

Armbrester led the team in scoring throughout the game as well, finishing with 17 points as well as four steals while senior guard Rodney Munson was next up with nine points. Junior forward Damarcies Moore tied his season-high with eight points in the battle, while senior forward Isaiah Williams led the team in rebounds (8) and assists (4).

ART U will compete in their last regular season home game next Monday, Feb. 24 against UH Hilo where the Knights will honor their four graduating upperclassmen for Senior Night.