SAN FRANCISCO – Academy of Art men's basketball moved to 2-2 on the year in the young 2023-24 campaign from a victory that was led by a dominant performance from junior forward Jamal Fuller, who tied for third-most points by an Urban Knight (33), as ART U defeated Stanislaus State on Wednesday with a 81-72 final score.

"Tonight was a great bounce back victory against a tough Stanislaus State team," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "The session is a marathon, and we took a step tonight in terms of getting better and executing our game plan. However, we can't rest as we have a quick turnaround coming this Friday, but I couldn't be more excited about getting this win tonight."

Buckets went back-and-forth through most of the first half, with the two teams still knotted at 25-25 with just under two minutes to play in the first frame. Making a 7-0 run to take the slight edge into the half were the Knights, as their strong defense through the first 20 minutes helped them end play with a 32-25 lead. This came less than two-minute span was one of the key difference-makers in the game, as Fuller started it off with a fastbreak layup as he also got the foul call and knocked down the free throw. Junior guard Rodney Munson got a layup of his own on the next possession with Fuller adding another with three seconds left as the half proceeded to end.

Coming out of the break, the Knights expanded on their lead right out of the gate, as senior forward Latrell Williams scored four straight points to bring ART U's new highest lead to nine. After an attempt to stop the Knights' momentum from a Warrior triple, ART U kept their foot on the pedal to bring their lead to as high as 15 from Fuller continuing his strong offensive play with buckets from multiple members of the cast that included Latrell Williams, junior guard Allen Taylor, junior forward Isaiah Williams, and Munson.

Starting with 15 minutes left in the second half, Stan State went on a 22-11 run within seven minutes to bring the contest back to within just four. As the game came out of the second-to-last media timeout, just after the eight-minute mark, Fuller responded with 11 more points in the game with junior guard Treylon Payne adding on a few scores of his own to not allow the Warriors to take a lead at any point.

In a half that the Warriors increased their shooting percentage by 26 percent, it was not enough to climb back as the team moved to 3-3 on the year thus far. Micah Boone (18) and Dontrell Hewlett (15) led the team in points while both coming off the bench, as three starters also scored in the double digits.

While Fuller tied for the third most points in program history with Weleh Dennis and Andrija Blatancic (twice), he also is now tied for field goals made (13) with Phillip Samuel and Stefan Milivojevic. Munson (13), Allen Taylor (11), and Latrell Williams (10) all also finished in the double- digits in points and, in a game where the Knights recorded a season-high 40 rebounds collectively, four members of ART U brought in five or more while six members recorded at least one steal.

The battle with No. 6 Saint Martin's, a rematch from last year's NCAA Division II West Regionals, will take place this Friday at 3 p.m. inside Kezar Pavilion.