SAN FRANCISCO – Career-highs, a 16-point comeback, and the program's first PacWest 3-game win streak were just a few of the highlight's in Academy of Art's win for the ages over Holy Names on Saturday night.
 
In the first half, everything seemed to be working in the favor of the Hawks after the 10-minute mark. HNU took their second lead of the game after Jamie Strong knocked down a 3-pointer to break the 17-17 tie. From that point on, Holy Names simply could not miss, building as much as an 8-point, 39-31 lead at the end of the period. Overall, the Hawks shot a scalding, 60.9 percent from the field in the half and they were 6-for-9 from beyond the 3-point arc. Despite ART U entering the contest with the conference's second-best defense, there was little they could do to combat their own .375 shooting percentage.
 
Holy Names entered the second half as strong as they left the first, building themselves a 12-point lead after just over six minutes had been played. The Hawks even managed to stretch their lead to 16 points at the 9:24 mark after Jacob Dean delivered a 3-point dagger. However, this is where the momentum began to shift and the game began to take a turn: The Urban Knights immediately went on a 10-1 run which trimmed the deficit to just seven points with 5:21 to play. Over the next four minutes, both teams exchanged buckets until junior guard Kiel Long hit a triple to make it a 4-point game with exactly one minute on the clock.

 
After both sides exchanged a free throw to keep the Knights' deficit at four points, ART U forced the Hawks to turn the ball over, keeping HNU from being able to inbound in the required five seconds. Now with the ball, senior guard Kendall Brown drew a foul and was automatically sent to the free throw line for two shots as his team was in the double bonus. Brown hit both, cutting the deficit to just two points with 40 seconds to play.
 
Holy Names now looked to inbound the ball, but once again, ART U's defense was able to force a turnover as junior guard Zuri Williams reached out, stealing the ball away on the inbound pass. Williams turned around to shoot a jumper from underneath the basket, but was fouled in the process, sending him to the line with a chance to tie the contest with 37.2 seconds on the clock. In perhaps the Walnut, Calif. native's two biggest shots of his Urban Knights career, he managed to knock down both free throws to make it a tie ball game.
 
Now, with a 5.7 second difference between the shot and game clocks, HNU took the ball down the court, looking to pull ahead. However, once again, the Urban Knights came up with a big-time stop, forcing the Hawks to commit a shot-clock violation as they could not get off a shot in time. Now a tie-game with 5.7 to seconds to play, Academy of Art found themselves with the final shot of the game. Brown inbounded the ball to Z. Williams who took it up the court, but he handed it back to Brown just beyond the half-court line. Brown immediately pulled up for a long 3-pointer as the clock wound down, but was fouled in the process. This sent him to the line for three shots and the opportunity to give ART U a 3-point lead and their first advantage since 9:49 remained, way back in the first half.
 
As the Corona, Calif. native prepared to take his three free-throws, a rowdy HNU contingent who had traveled across the Bay Bridge to support their team made their presence known. However, Brown refused to succumb to the pressure, making all three attempts to give his side a three-point advantage. Now, with 1.2 seconds remaining, The Hawks put up a desperate heave from three-quarters court which hit off the glass, but it did not go, giving the Urban Knights an incredible, come-from-behind, 3-point, 69-66 victory.

"What kept us in the game was our defense," said head coach Julius Barnes. "We got stops and were aggressive in attacking the rim and getting to the basket. Both Kendall and Cole did a tremendous job on the offensive glass and that extra effort gave us opportunities to outshoot them and get more field-goal attempts."

ART U's awe-inspiring win gave Academy of Art their third-consecutive victory and the season sweep over Holy Names as they took down the Hawks on their own court on December 10, 2017. In fact, stretching back to the game before that contest, ART U has now won six of their last eight games with their only two losses coming at the hands of Point Loma and Hawaii Pacific. Now with a 7-9 overall record, the Knights are 6-4 in conference which puts them in sixth-place in the PacWest. With two games remaining in their current homestand and 10 games to play overall, the Urban Knights will look to maintain their position in the standings. If they do, they would become the first team in the program's 10-year history to receive a berth into the PacWest tournament.
 
ART U's win was made possible by several key performances on the night including by junior guard Cole Morgan who led the team with career-highs in points (19) and rebounds (9), while also contributing three steals. Brown came in just behind Morgan with his second double-double of the season, compiling 18 points and 10 boards. He is now averaging 15.3 points per game which is 12th-highest mark in the conference. The final Knight to score in double-digit figures was Long who turned in 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block, and a steal.

"It was a blur honestly," said Brown. "We were locked in and tried to get to the rim and score. It was a gutsy win for sure."
 
Academy of Art will now continue their homestand on Monday, January 15 when they welcome Chaminade to Kezar Pavilion at 7:30 p.m.

"I have never been a part of something like this," said Barnes. "It just speaks to the resolve these players have to, despite the odds, come in, battle, and do what's necessary to win."