LACEY, Wash. – Proving they can hang tough with a nationwide top team in NCAA Division II, Academy of Art men's basketball went the distance all the way to the last possession with No. 16 Saint Martin's on Thursday night, but the Saints snuck away from the upset and secured the 76-74 victory.

Undefeated SMU (8-0) did all they could in the first half to try and get the Urban Knights (2-2) off their tail, but a lead of 10 was the highest the Saints saw as ART U remained close throughout, trailing by a narrow margin for the majority of the opening frame. That lead would settle at just five to close the first half, as the 39-34 score at the break would be all the Saints could manage. Senior forward Isaiah Williams led Academy of Art in scoring through the first 20 minutes as he finished with nine points and senior forward Quintin Metcalf was right there with him with eight of his own. Metcalf additionally co-led the squad in rebounds as he, senior guard Rodney Munson, and junior forward Robbie Armbrester all collected six apiece with senior guard Treylon Payne dishing it out on the offensive end with five assists.

Less than five minutes into the second half, the Knights had already taken the lead away from the Saints off an Armbrester dunk to go up 47-46. The two teams went on to trade the lead back-and-forth for the following minutes, but once SMU had it back with just under 12 minutes remaining, they never relinquished it. The Saints attempted once again to put the game away as they built that advantage to as many as 12, but the Knights once again battled back to erase it to just two points in the final minutes. A huge three-ball from Williams with 36 seconds to go brought ART U to within one score, and the Knights would get one more try after a Munson defensive rebound with 10 seconds left. With no timeouts remaining and the clock running, the SMU defense hung in there to disallow a clean look and escape the ART U comeback 76-74. 

Williams built upon his points lead on the squad in the second half as he finished with 23, while Munson (13) and Metcalf (12) were the other two in double-digits. The latter pair additionally shared the lead in rebounds (8) with Armbrester, while Payne led in assists (7) with redshirt junior guard Donovan Vickers contributing five. As a team, ART U collected 11 steals and their season-high in blocks (5).

Up next, the Urban Knights will close out their road trip against Western Oregon where they'll take on the Wolves this Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.