SAN FRANCISCO - The Urban Knights (4-5, 2-1 PacWest) faced their formidable rivals Dominican University of California (5-4, 1-1 PacWest) on Thursday, but ultimately prevailed with a 72-66 victory in the Battle for the Bridge.
 
From the moment the Urban Knights stepped on the court, the momentum was in their favor: ART U took an early 13-0 run, highlighted by junior guard Herman Pratt IV's four points, which led to a 17-2 score after nearly six minutes had passed. The Penguins would only score one more bucket within the next five minutes, giving Academy of Art a 19-4 advantage at the 12:36 mark.

 
Dominican would not gain some treading until 10:45 remained in the half when they scored in two consecutive possessions for the first time in the game. However, by that point, the Urban Knights had already built an insurmountable 21-9 lead.
 
At the end of the half, ART U held a 17-point advantage (27-44), while shooting 64 percent from beyond the three-point arc and 63 percent overall.
 
When the second half commenced, the Penguins played with a renewed sense of energy. Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten landed three triples within the first two and a half minutes, including scoring six points during an 8-0 Dominican run. With the lead now trimmed to 10 points, the Urban Knights had to employ their defensive strengths in order to retain the lead.
 
As the Penguins continued to chip away at the score, ART U dug deeper and was able to hold on for a six-point victory, and their first ever in 13 games against their rivals.
 
One of the keys to the Urban Knights' success was their ability to capitalize off of turnovers, scoring 17 points off of 15 forced turnovers. Whereas Dominican only scored six points from ART U's 11 turnovers. The Knights were also able to win the rebounding war, tallying 35 over the Penguins' eight.
 
Several ART U athletes had stand-out nights on the court including junior guard Chris Salas who posted the game's only double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jase Harrison also had a great night, leading the team with 24 points, while adding five rebounds. Pratt and senior guard Nick Cary also contributed eight points apiece.
 
On the Penguins scorecard, Schwartz-Edmister led the way, tallying 18 points, while Seth Turner and Matt Hayes each rebounded five.
 
On Saturday, the Urban Knights look to take the momentum from Thursday's win into their rematch with Fresno Pacific after having fallen to the Sunbirds last weekend. Tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m. at Kezar Pavilion following the women at 5:30 p.m.