SAN FRANCISCO – Battling against what had been the top team in the Pacific West Conference standings coming into Saturday afternoon, Academy of Art men's basketball proved they would be the better team by night's end as they cruised past the Silverswords with a 93-74 final score.

"Tonight was a great team win to head into the break," said Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We are getting closer to playing a full 40 minutes of basketball, which we need to be doing as we get into the heart of PacWest play. Having 21 assists and shooting 53 percent from the field are what we need to do to continue our success in 2025."

One of the juggernauts in NCAA Division II in steals average prior to the contest with a fourth place national ranking, Chaminade's style all season thus far was to play scrappy and get ahead big as they held the best point differential in the PacWest, but after their battle with ART U, they were bumped down to third. CUH did hang tough for the first 10 minutes trading the lead with the Urban Knights, but it was then where ART U sprung ahead to hold a 17-point lead by the end of the opening frame. The Silverswords were within three with seven minutes remaining, but ART U's 14-2 run to close the half ultimately gave them their 49-32 lead at the buzzer.

The Knights extended their lead to above 20 points quickly into the second frame, but halfway through the closing period Chaminade brought it back to within 12 as they were looking to create a major comeback. ART U responded by shutting the door, building their advantage back up to as many as 23 led by a dominant performance from senior forward Quintin Metcalf. The Knights soundly saw the final score end off at 93-74.

Spreading around the rock once again, ART U saw one of their best displays of team basketball this season with seven members of the squad scoring at least eight points, with five of those being in the double-digits. With Metcalf showing what he is capable of either down on the block or at the top of the key all game, he finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks while shooting 7-for-9 from the field, and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. The surrounding cast for ART U was highlighted by seven assists plus 12 points for senior guard Treylon Payne, four steals to go with 16 points for senior guard Rodney Munson, eight rebounds with 11 points for senior forward Isaiah Williams, and three more blocks alongside 12 points for junior forward Robbie Armbrester.

With the victory, Academy of Art improves to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play after now winning five of their last six games. Meanwhile, Chaminade drops to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in PacWest action.

The Knights will next enter the new year by taking on Biola on Thursday, Jan. 2 to start off their upcoming Southern California road trip.