by BELMONT, Calif. – From the opening whistle until the final buzzer it was all Academy of Art men’s basketball on Monday, never trailing in a contest in which they set numerous season highs as ART U earned its way back into the win column with a dominant 98-72 showing over Biola in Pacific West Conference action.
“What a great way to head into the holiday break,” said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. “After a tough, hard fought battle on Saturday, it was great to see the resiliency of our guys to bounce back and play to a new standard that we want to uphold for the rest of the year. What was most impressive was we had 23 assists and really shared the ball on the offensive end.”
Layups from junior forward Latrell Williams and graduate student guard Deang Deang set the tone early for the Urban Knights (7-4, 2-3 PacWest), but each time that the ART U lead would start to grow, the Eagles (7-5, 3-3 PacWest) would cut the momentum and keep the contest close.
Late in the half was when ART U found another gear as, after the Eagles had once again trimmed the deficit to just two points, the Knights unleashed a 12-0 run to seize full control of the game and capture their first double-digit lead of the night. All five buckets in the span came from different Urban Knights, featuring a pair of triples from graduate student guard Stephon Hall and senior guard Klay Brown, and resulted in a Biola timeout.
The regroup for BU did very little to slow the Knights, as ART U continued to press until the period ended in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from sophomore guard Rodney Munson. Academy of Art seemingly couldn’t miss from the field towards the end of the first frame, knocking down an eye-popping 66.7 percent (22-for-33) of their looks from the floor and was 10-for-16 (62.5 percent) from beyond the arc. Five different Knights had scored at least eight points (high of 11 from Hall), and ART U had already reached double-digit assists with 11.
Action continued much the same in the second half, with the lead at one point swelling to as large as 33 points for the Urban Knights. Their hot-shooting hand cooled off as the game wound to a conclusion, but it could not keep ART U from setting its highest point total this season with 98 (fifth-most in a single game in ART U history) and their second-largest margin of victory on the season (most: 27 vs. Chico, 11/19/22). It was the second time this season that ART U has never trailed in a game (also Chico), and was also the second win in a row for Academy of Art over Biola (both by double digits), evening the all-time series between the sides at 4-4.
By game’s end the Knights had connected on 58.5 percent (40-for-68) of their attempts from the field, a new season-best and the seventh-best percentage in program history. It was their best day from the field since they set the top two field goal percentages in program history in a two-game span against Holy Names on Feb. 13, 2020 and UH Hilo on Feb. 15, 2020.
Meanwhile, the 40 made baskets are tied for second-most in ART U history, while their 14 3-pointers set a new program record for triples in a game. Ball movement was important in the victory, as their 23 helpers are the fifth-most in program history and the most they tallied in a game since they tied the program record with 26 against Chaminade on Dec. 19, 2021.
All nine Urban Knights scored in the contest and six finished in double figures led by the season-high of 19 from Deang, while junior forward Richard Rivers Jr. fell just shy of a double-double though still posted season bests with 14 points and nine rebounds. Eight of nine Urban Knights to play in the game recorded assists for ART U, with four Knights tallying at least four helpers (Hall had team-high five), while Brown contributed three steals.
