FRESNO, Calif. – At one time leading by double-digits late in the second half, Academy of Art men's basketball found themselves trailing Fresno Pacific by two in with just seconds remaining in regulation, but a key second-chance bucket from graduate student forward Adrian Byrd-Jelinek would force overtime where ART U outlasted FPU for an 85-82 Pacific West Conference victory in the season finale for both teams. 

"What a great team victory on the road tonight against a really good FPU team," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "I am proud of our guys for stepping up to the challenge and again making big plays down the stretch, especially when we were short-handed due to foul trouble. To finish the regular season with 17 wins and fourth in the conference is truly a testament to our guys."

Both teams played to a quick pace early on with lots of scoring, but an 11-3 run for the Urban Knights (17-11, 13-7 PacWest) that featured a trio of 3-pointers from junior forward Mike Asante, graduate student guard Denny Slay, and graduate student guard Joshua Bagley. From that point the lead would fluctuate, even briefly seeing the Sunbirds (17-9, 11-8 PacWest) tie the game at moments, but ART U would not trail in the first half before ultimately grabbing an eight-point lead, 43-35. Neither team had trouble finding the basket, as both hit on over 50 percent of their attempts from the floor in the first period, led by the 56.25 percent (18-for-32) from the Knights. 

Again the lead would balloon to double-digits early in the second half for ART U, and while they would lead by as many as 10 with just over 11 minutes left to play, Fresno Pacific would claw its way back and trim the deficit down to just one point. Key in the run was the three-ball, which the Sunbirds ultimately used to tie the game with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.

ART U would answer a Nate Kendricks jumper with a Bagley triple, but their lead would be short lived thanks a free throw and three-ball from Sean Nealon-Lino. The teams would trade free throws, but with the Knights still trailing by two, were looking to establish their offense. Holding off for the potentially final shot of the game, Byrd-Jelinek would be there to clean up the glass of a miss from Slay, putting it back up-and-in to send the game into overtime. 

The extra period started with a pair of Academy of Art buckets by junior forward Klay Brown and sophomore forward Cheickna Sissoko, but FPU was able to respond both times to avoid falling too far behind. That was, until the final of a creer-best four triples from Bagley put ART U up by three, with the Sunbirds eventually having to foul allowing the Urban Knights to ice the game from the free throw line. 

For the seventh time this season the Urban Knights would end the game by making over half of their attempts, closing with a 51.6 percent (33-for-64) mark from the field. Leading the five Knights in double figures offensively was Asante, dropping a season-best 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting, while Bagley trailed shortly behind him with 16 points of his own, the majority of which came from downtown where he was 4-for-6. Meanwhile, three Urban Knights would tie for a team-best eight rebounds in Asante, Byrd-Jelinek and Sissoko. 

With the win, ART U kept alive its chance at the No. 3 seed for the PacWest Championship Tournament beginning next week. However, the Knights were not able to get the help they needed as Dominican could not pull off the upset over Biola, meaning ART U has been officially locked into the No. 4 seed. That means that these two teams are destined to meet in a trilogy this season, with each side now having won a game on the other's home floor. 

That trilogy will take place from the FPU Special Events Center in Fresno, Calif. on Thursday, Mar. 3 at 5 p.m. You can buy tickets here.