NAMPA, Idaho – Taking on Northwest Nazarene in their first matchup of the NNU Invitational, Academy of Art posted a dominant first half. However, their momentum could not be sustained as the Nighthawks shot over 45 percent in the second period, rolling to an eight-point, 84-76 win over the Urban Knights.
 
Despite trailing by five points at the end of the opening half, ART U was the more dominant team. The Urban Knights shot 48.1 percent from the floor and were 33.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. The period began with the Nighthawks stealing the game's first seven points, but the Knights roared back into the contest with a 13-6 run to tie things up at 13 points apiece. After several clutch 3-pointers, including junior guard Zuri Williams going 2-for-2 in the opening 20 minutes, ART U pulled ahead 21-18 at the 12:29 mark. NNU responded with a triple of their own from Jayden Bezzant which was part of an 8-point run giving the Nighthawks a 5-point, 26-21 lead. However, over the next few minutes, ART U pulled back within two points (36-34) before ending the half trailing by five (45-40) to cap off a competitive first half which featured four lead changes.
 
In the second period, NNU caught fire from the get-go, scoring six quick points to open the half, taking a 51-44 lead. Northwest Nazarene eventually pulled ahead by 17 points, but ART U continued to show their resiliency, going on a 15-4 run to come back within six with 3:11 to play. The streak was fueled by six points from senior guard Kendall Brown. However, despite the late run, the Nighthawks held on to their lead to take the contest.
 
Junior guard Cole Morgan produced his second double-digit scoring output of the season on Friday night, scoring a team and season-high 17 points. Morgan went 5-for-10 from the floor and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Three other Urban Knights scored double-digit points against NNU which is the highest figure since February 23, 2017 when they defeated UH Hilo with five Knights scoring double-digit points. Brown was next-highest scorer with 13 points including six which were recorded with under 4:30 to play. Brown has now put up double-digit points in each of ART U's three games and leads the team with 16.0 points per game. The other two Knights with the highest scoring output were Williams (11) and freshman forward Nick Conway (10).
 
Now 0-3 to begin the season, Academy of Art will play one more contest before returning home: on Saturday, they will face Concordia (Ore.) who is now 3-0 after defeating SF State 102-97 on Friday night.