SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – When they needed it the most Academy of Art men's basketball showed up with active hands on defense, collecting timely steals that turned into key points down the stretch for a 63-52 Pacific West Conference win over Dominican on Saturday. 

"Tonight it was great to get back in the win column after some tough losses and a quarantine," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "We didn't play our best game but we made some big plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor. It is a testament to our guys that we didn't play our 'A' game, but still [ground] out a win. We can't be satisfied as we have a long week ahead."

Getting the win finally snaps a four-game skid for the Urban Knights (11-10, 7-6 PacWest), as they move back above .500 and into sixth place in the PacWest. ART U used mini runs throughout the first half to ultimately take control after what had been a see-saw game early on, though the lead could only grow to as large as seven after a layup by junior forward Mike Asante with four and half minutes remaining in the first frame. However, Dominican refused to go away and would make it just a one-possession contest at 32-29 going into the break. 

Hovering around a two-possession game in ART U's favor throughout the majority of the second half, business picked up for the Knights with just under five minutes left beginning with a heads-up steal from graduate student guard Denny Slay that led him to layup on the other end. It nearly felt like a rewind of the moment when Asante nearly did the same thing on the ensuing Dominican possession, though he was fouled and would sink both attempts from the free throw line. 

After the two teams traded buckets, the sixth and final steal by Slay would result in a dagger three from Asante that pushed the lead into double digits for the first time in the contest and all but ended the game. While ART U added a couple of more points from the charity stripe, they would only reach 63 points, their lowest mark in a victory this season. More impressively, the 52 points that they held Dominican too was the lowest total since the Knights allowed just 48 points from Notre Dame de Namur on Feb. 21, 2019.

Tonight's victory marked a regular season series sweep for ART U over Dominican, the first time they have done so since they did it in back-to-back seasons starting in 2017-18 and again in 2018-19. This is just the third time that the Knights have won consecutive games against the Penguins, as they remain two off their high of four from 2017-2019. In fact, while Dominican won each of the first 12 meetings between the two sides, things have been more evenly matched in the recent years with Academy of Art winning 10 of the past 18 battles. 

Academy of Art was back into the double-digit steal column for the 14th time this season, as Slay led the way with his season-high of six thefts, while the Knights continued their streak of reaching double-digit turnovers forced. They have forced their opposition into at least 10 turnovers in every game this season, totaling 39 in just the last two contests. 

While all eight Urban Knights to see action on the floor scored at least one bucket, only Asante was able to hit double digits with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds. It was the first time this season that only one player scored in double figures for ART U. Slay paired his six swipes with nine points, while junior guard Klay Brown, sophomore forward Latrell Williams, and graduate student forward Adrian Byrd-Jelinek all chipped in eight points and six rebounds apiece. Meanwhile, graduate student guard Joshua Bagley added seven points and a team-high five assists. 

The Knights look to make it two in a row when they play the first of back-to-back games against Holy Names on Wednesday, Feb. 9.