BELMONT, Calif. – Academy of Art men's basketball showed why they are the top rebounding team in the Pacific West Conference on Tuesday night against Hawaii Pacific, dominating the glass and snatching a new season-high in rebounds which helped ART U weather the late HPU comeback attempt, sinking HPU in conference action by an 82-72 final. 

"Following our tough loss on Saturday, it was good to get back out on the court and get another conference win," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "The difference in the game tonight was our rebounding. Anytime you can out-rebound your opponent by 20, you put yourself in position to win the game. We still have not played our best 40 minutes of individual basketball, and look forward to getting to that point soon."

After an brief feeling out period over the first few minutes following the tip, the Urban Knights (13-7, 8-5 PacWest) were clinging to a slight edge until the Sharks (7-13, 2-8 PacWest) reeled off an 8-0 run to turn what was a three-point deficit into a five-point cushion. Though a Melo Sanchez 3-pointer for HPU grew their lead to eight, Academy of Art responded with a triple of their own from graduate student guard Will Balata before a jumper from sophomore forward Jamal Fuller returned it to a one-possession game. 

Hawaii Pacific dialed up from long range again to maintain the advantage, however, their lead would not last as a pair of offsetting layups by each side preceded an 8-0 run for the Urban Knights to retake control. Starting with a pair of free throws from Balata, graduate student guard Deang Deang connected from beyond the arc while Fuller added a jumper, finally ending the stretch on a pair of points at the stripe from junior forward Latrell Williams.

The final five minutes seemed to see both sides go back-and-forth until the buzzer sounded, which saw ART U holding just a one-point lead after a jumper from Mason Landdeck with three seconds remaining. Already reaching the double-digit rebound mark in the game was Williams, pulling down 10 boards while adding eight points and three steals, all in just the first 20 minutes.

Action continued much in the same way to start the second period as the end of the first frame, as though an HPU turnover led to an ART U jumper from graduate student guard Stephon Hall for the bucket of the half, Hawaii Pacific countered with a Landdeck three-ball to keep the game knotted. The seesaw nature of the game continued for just over five minutes of play, until the Knights used an 8-1 stretch that featured yet another triple from Deang and layup from Balata as the foundation to eventually build the game's first double-digit lead just over midway through the period. 

While the Academy of Art advantage swelled as large as 14 points, HPU continued to fight back into the game as a 9-1 run returned it to a two-possession contest with three and half minutes remaining. That score would hold roughly a minute with the two teams swapping layups and jumpers (as well as a pair of ART U free throws), but with the Sharks running out of time, they were forced to foul and watch ART U ice the contest from the stripe.

Connecting on each of their final five attempts while scoring their last seven points from the line, ART U held on for the 82-72 win and the season sweep, marking their fifth consecutive victory over Hawaii Pacific which is their longest winning streak in series. This was also ART U's eighth win of the season by double digits.

By the end of the night, Academy of Art had pulled down a total of 53 rebounds (new season high) to the 33 of the Sharks, which is tied for the third-most in a game in program history (also: Nov. 8, 2013 vs. CSUEB). It was one more than their previous high on the season of 52, which they did in the first meeting against Point Loma. Those totals showed up in the offense, as ART U dominated second-chance points (27-5) and points in the paint (46-26). 

Two names most responsible for the rebounding output were Williams and senior forward Mike Asante, as merely one game after Asante tied the program record for rebounds in a game, Williams nearly matched him by snagging 19 boards in Tuesday's contest while Asante grabbed 13. Both Urban Knights made sure to finish with a double-double, as Asante posted his fourth of the year thanks to a season-high in points with 20 while Williams posted his second game with 16 points.

Williams finished with just the three steals from the first half while Asante added a block and a steal. Also into double figures was Fuller who chipped in 12 points, while four Urban Knights tallied two assists apiece in Deang, Fuller, Hall and Williams. 

Five days must go by before ART U can return to game action, as a rematch with the PacWest's second place team UH Hilo next up beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29.