SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – After shooting over 70 percent from the field for the second consecutive opening half, Academy of Art men's basketball did not take its foot off the gas, finishing with the best field goal percentage in program history (.642) on its way to a 91-74 Pacific West Conference victory over UH Hilo Saturday afternoon inside Conlan Recreation Center. Leading the extremely efficient effort was junior forward Josh Hill's ninth double-double (21 points, 12 rebounds) and 19 points from junior guard Stefan Milivojevic.

"Today, we did a great job with our offensive efficiency," said head coach Scott Waterman. "When you shoot 64 percent from the field that means you're taking great shots and we had 19 assists which shows how we're sharing the ball. I thought our perimeter defense was good, holding them to 2-for-19 from long range. It was a testament to our guys' mentality that we were +13 on the boards to really create those offensive opportunities."

Going back-and-forth through the first five minutes, the game's momentum began to swing to ART U when senior guard Nemanja Kovacevic nailed his first 3-pointer and the Urban Knights soon executed an 18-3 run with buckets from Hill and Milivojevic early on and five straight from redshirt junior guard Dante Williams towards the end. When the Vulcans finally found a rhythm on offense, they faced a 33-16 deficit 11 minutes in.

Unselfish play and layups continued to pour in for Academy of Art as redshirt junior forward Luka Radovic and junior guard Monte Lambert kept the stellar scoring efficiency going off the bench. Junior forward Adrian Byrd-Jelinek added three baskets in the final seven minutes while adding one of the team's 11 first half assists. His pass to Hill on a fastbreak came during a 7-1 push to close the half that had ART U on top 56-35 with still 20 minutes left to play.

Though the Vulcans would fight back in the second half, the Knights consistently had answers each time. Academy of Art kept its advantage above 15 points throughout the final period, getting timely baskets from up and down its roster. When UH Hilo had made it a 75-60 game with five minutes and 40 seconds to go, Byrd-Jelinek found Hill on two consecutive possessions to boost back the lead then free throws by Hill, Williams, and Lambert all helped stave off any further comeback down the stretch. Capping a game in which ART U scored 54 points in the paint, Williams' final layup signed off on the 91-74 final score.

With its fifth victory in the team's last six games, Academy of Art improves to 10-15 overall and 8-10 in PacWest play now just one win from matching UH Hilo for the would-be sixth seed in the conference tournament. The 21 points for Hill were a season-best and came on an 8-of-11 shooting performance. Converting seven of his 10 shots from the field and three of four from deep, Milivojevic became tied with William Overton Jr. for second on the ART U career points list with 827 thus far. Williams provided 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench, Kovacevic added 10 points, and Byrd-Jelinek finished with a season-high seven assists to go with eight points.

UH Hilo, now 11-12 overall and 9-10 in conference action, had three different players score 17 points apiece including Kupaa Harrison, Sasa Vuksanovic, and Elisha Duplechan.

On the road next week, the Urban Knights next travel to Southern California to face Azusa Pacific (Feb. 20) and Concordia (Feb. 22).