OAKLAND, Calif. –  Academy of Art looked dominant all-around in a Sunday night showdown with Holy Names. After pulling ahead with less than two-minutes played, the Urban Knights did not look back. Three players finished with double-digit points and they were led by senior guard Kendall Brown's career and game-high, 24 points.
 
It did not take long for ART U to establish a lead, going ahead on a 3-pointer made by Brown at the 18:10 mark. Brown followed up his first three points of the night with a jumper in the paint which was accompanied by another two points from senior guard Uchenna Okeneme. After their 7-0 run to begin the contest, Academy of Art held a 9-2 lead. Their advantage only continued to grow as they ended the half shooting 50 percent from the floor while holding the Hawks to just 34.6 percent. Brown's nine points and four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes were seconded by junior center Cameron Niven's near double-double (eight points and six boards).
 
"I thought the guys' effort on defense tonight was amazing, especially in the first half," said head coach Julius Barnes. "They were communicating, flying all over the place, and limiting Holy Names to one shot per possession which allowed us to get out in transition and get easy buckets."
 
Entering the second half with a 10-point, 35-25 lead, the Urban Knights picked up where they left off. The Knights went on a 14-2 run to extend their advantage to 19 points. Consistent with the rest of the game, the streak was highlighted by multiple players' contributions. 10 points and four and a half minutes later, ART U took their biggest lead of the night (22 points) when junior guard Zuri Williams scored a layup on a fastbreak following a missed layup by HNU. With the score now at 59-37, the Urban Knights continued to outplay the Hawks in the final 10 minutes which included 10 points from Brown over a span of 180 seconds (two triples and a jumper). The night came to an end just moments later when freshman guard Stefan Milivojevic landed a 3-pointer to give the Skobanja, Serbia native nine points (a new career-high) and Academy of Art a 76-58 victory.
 
"Today's game, we all came out aggressively and focused on the defense first," said Brown. "We got a lot of great stops which, in turn, led to good offensive plays. Our goal heading into this stretch was to go into the break with a three-game win streak, so we are trying to stay focused on letting our defense assist our offense."
 
Brown led both sides with 24 points while contributing four rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Junior guard Cobe Williams scored the team's second-most points (12) and he has now scored double-digit points in three out of the last four games. Williams was also credited with five assists and four steals which is a career-best. The final Urban Knight with double-digit points was Okeneme who tied his season-high with 10 while amassing seven rebounds (also a season-high).
 
Now 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the PacWest, Academy of Art will have eight days before their next contest when they host Point Loma on December 18 at 7:30 p.m.
 
"The guys have bought into the plan and they are executing what we are going over in practice which is great to see," said Barnes. "To string two wins together is great. We just have to continue to stay humble, stay hungry and continue to get better."