HONOLULU – Academy of Art men's basketball played evenly with the No. 3-ranked Hawaii Pacific Sharks for the majority of Monday night's game. However, after falling behind early, ART U struggled to make up the difference and could not overcome the deficit despite a strong run in the second half.
 
The Urban Knights kept things close in the first half, never trailing by more than 11 points. In fact, ART U's defense forced nine turnovers in the period which were converted to four points. After the Sharks made it 14-6 after scoring a pair of free throws at the 12:05 mark, the Knights quickly responded, scoring in two consecutive possessions thanks to layups from freshman forward Luka Radovic and junior guard Uchenna Okeneme. From there, ART U continued to inch closer, trimming the deficit to as little as five points with 3:28 remaining in the period. However, HPU was able to create some distance in the closing minutes, ending the half with a 36-25 lead.
 
The Sharks came out of the break firing on all cylinders and stretched their lead to 15 points before the Urban Knights were able to respond.  After being fouled by Hawaii Pacific's Chauncey Orr, Okeneme's two free throw attempts did not miss and marked a new beginning to the half for ART U. The Urban Knights matched HPU nearly shot-for-shot as the score differential never deviated beyond three points for the next 10 minutes. Academy of Art eventually pulled within nine points when freshman forward Ivan Furlan floated an uncontested layup in the paint at the 8:18 mark. After a pair of Shark free throws found their mark, Okeneme again made it a three-possession game after he scored a layup thanks to an assist from senior guard Herman Pratt IV. From that point, HPU began to pull away despite a clutch 3-pointer from junior guard Kendall Brown with under six minutes to play. Eventually, the Sharks closed out the game, winning by a score of 76-60.
 
Brown was the points leader for ART U on Monday night, coming away with 16 while adding a rebound, an assist, and a steal to his total. Junior guard Victor Nwaba scored eight points including six rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
 
The Urban Knights will play one more game in Hawaii before returning home. That matchup will take place on Wednesday, February 15 at 7:30 p.m. against BYU-Hawaii.