IRVINE, Calif. – Both Academy of Art men's basketball and Concordia traded shots all night during a Pacific West Conference clash, with the contest remaining tight for both squads throughout the whole game, but CUI stayed hot down the stretch and warded off an ART U comeback, taking the victory with a 81-74 final.

ART U, now 6-5 overall and 2-2 in conference, saw themselves an early narrow lead after the first five minutes with all buckets coming from senior forward Latrell Williams and junior guard Rodney Munson. The Golden Eagles, who improved to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in conference, responded as they took over the lead midway through the first half by back-to-back triples from CUI's Connor Gleason. As the time in the first frame dwindled down, junior forward Ashton Howard buckets had the game gridlocked 20-20 before Concordia outscored the Urban Knights 15-9 in the final minutes of the opening period, with halftime arriving with the score set at 35-29 in favor of CUI.

Coming out of the half, the Knights quickly erased their six-point deficit as junior forward Jamal Fuller tied it up with back-to-back layups and Munson knocked down a free throw to take a lead just a few minutes in. CUI regained their six-point advantage less than two minutes later from multiple Tim Adetukasi scores in the paint and shots at the charity stripe. Concordia's strong play on both sides of the court led to an eventual 13-point lead that forced ART U to take a timeout. The Knights answered with a quick 9-0 run of their own to bring the contest within four, but could not surpass Concordia who maintained their advantage throughout the duration of the final stretch with the score finalized at 81-74.

Junior forward Isaiah Williams slowly created himself a career game in the tough battle for the squad, as he built on his point total throughout the contest and tallied up 26 points by the end. While he shot 8-for-14 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line, Isaiah Williams knocked down the teams only triples while collecting seven rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. 

Adetukasi led the Golden Eagles, putting up 21 points while he went a perfect 11-for-11 on his free throws in 37 minutes played. Connor Gleason contributed 16 points that included some big time 3-pointers that maintained the lead for his team, and Luis Marin added on 14 points of his own off the bench.

There will be two weeks before Academy of Art will see the court again, as they return to PacWest play on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 3:30 p.m. to take on Hawai'i Pacific at home inside Kezar Pavilion.