PacWest Weekly Awards (Jan. 23)

IRVINE, Calif. – Following a 1-1 week for Academy of Art men's basketball in which he tied the program record for rebounds in a game with 20, ART U senior forward Mike Asante has earned his second Pacific West Conference Defender of the Week award for the 2022-23 campaign. The award is for games played from Jan. 16-22. 

Domination on the glass helped Asante earn the honor as he snatched an average of 14.5 rebounds per game, with an average of 13.0 per game coming at the defensive end. During ART U's close 75-72 defeat at the hands of PacWest leader No. 20 Point Loma Asante pulled down a program record-tying 20 rebounds, which had been done only one other time in school history by by Hunter Hayden against Dixie State back on Jan. 17, 2011. It was also the most in a single PacWest game this season and is tied for the seventh-most in a game in PacWest history. Additionally, he snagged one steal and posted his third double-double of the year with 15 points against the Sea Lions while just missing another with nine boards in the win over Concordia.

This is the second such honor for Asante this season and in his career, who earned his first award back on Jan. 4, while it is the third time an Urban Knight has been picked as the PacWest Defender of the Week this season after senior guard Klay Brown was the first to do so back on Nov. 21. It is also the second consecutive year that ART U has had multiple Defender of the Week honors and have one Urban Knight earn the award more than once, as they are nearly halfway to the five Urban Knights and seven total awards earned last season (both program records).