HILO, Hawaii – Competing in the final contest of a six-game road trip, their third game in the past five days, Academy of Art men's basketball seemed as if it was going to be locked into another close contest as ART U and UH Hilo traded leads in the first frame. Just before halftime was when the Knights grabbed control, ending the first and starting the second period with a combined 28-4 stretch, ultimately leading to ART U's fourth 90-point performance of the season with a 90-68 win over UH Hilo on Thursday. 

"Tonight was a great team win and the second half exemplified what happens when we play ART U basketball," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We forced a very good Hilo team into 20 turnovers and conversely really shared the ball with 22 assists. I was also impressed with how we came together and played together in the second half."

It took around three minutes before the Urban Knights (11-6, 6-4 PacWest) hit the scoreboard, doing so on a triple from junior forward Richard Rivers Jr. to answer the 7-0 run by the Vulcans (10-3, 6-2 PacWest) that started the ballgame. Jumpers from graduate student guard Will Balata and junior forward Latrell Williams tied the game, leading the contest to seesaw through the majority of the remaining time in the half with neither team leading by more than six points from that point on. 

Trying twice to give the Vulcans the lead just before the break was Kalique Mitchell, starting with a layup plus the foul before a three-ball from sophomore guard Rodney Munson again knotted the game at 30-30. While Mitchell found the bottom of the net once more, this time on a jumper from the paint, a trio of jumpers from Balata, sophomore forward Jamal Fuller and graduate student guard Deang Deang helped ART U finish off a 9-2 stretch as the clock showed all zeroes for halftime with the Knights in front, 36-32.

The final 20 minutes started much the same way as the first half ended, as though a Mitchell jumper for Hilo would balance out a pair of ART U free throws from Balata, the Knights then produced a 17-0 stretch that took the next five minutes off the clock. Key in the stretch was Balata, who drained a pair of buckets including a 3-pointer and added a few at the free throw line to total nine points over that span. All told, it would be a 28-4 stretch for the Urban Knights over the middle seven minutes of the game, seizing all momentum and never looking back.

From that point on ART U never held fewer than a 20-point advantage, keeping the throttle down while reaching the 90-point barrier for the fourth time this season, achieving the feat in consecutive games for the second time this year after also doing so in back-to-back games against Biola and Holy Names. Tonight's win was the second in a row and the fifth in the past six games over UH Hilo, getting the win after dominiating the last meeting 81-48 on Feb. 13 of last year, three times reaching 80 points or more in those six games. Sharing the ball was among the top reasons for the offensive explosion, recording a total of 22 helpers on the night as they reached 20 or more assists for just the second time this season, falling one shy of their season-best 23 that they recorded against Biola.

Ball movement turned into solid shot selection, as the Urban Knights finished the night by making exactly half of their shot attempts from the field for the game (33-for-66). It was the fourth time this season that Academy of Art has hit on half of their looks, and their 22 helpers led ART U to assist on 66.7 percent (22-of-33) of their total baskets. Meanwhile on the defensive end, though the Knights only totaled seven steals, they did force the Vulcans to turn the ball over 20 times leading to 32 points off turnovers, the fifth time that Academy of Art has generated 20 or more opponent turnovers. 

Capturing the game high in points was Balata, who set his new season-best in points with 25 on the strength of 9-for-12 (75.0 percent) shooting from the field while also snatching four rebounds and dishing out four assists, which was tied for the team lead with fellow graduate student guard Stephon Hall. Coming up with his second double-double of the season was senior forward Mike Asante, ending his night with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in addition to three helpers. Rivers Jr. reached double figures for the third consecutive game, as he and Hall each chipped in 11 points each while Munson kicked in 10 points. 

While one of Hilo's top scoring options did not see the floor, Academy of Art focused on stopping one of the top scoring threats in the conference in Carlos Ramsey Jr., limiting him to just 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting (45.5 percent) from the floor. Mitchell tallied the UH Hilo high with 23 points, while Darren Williams added 19 points on the strength of four 3-pointers. 

"Winning on the road is tough, especially at Hilo, and our guys met the challenge," Waterman said. "We will use this performance as a new foundation going forward."

Academy of Art will return to friendly confines for the first time in six games, as the Urban Knights will play host to Concordia in a rematch with ART U looking to gain revenge on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. from Walter Gleason Gym.