HONOLULU – Both squads in this Pacific West Conference matchup carried strong leads, but after Chaminade managed to gain a burst late in the second half, the Silverswords would take the victory over Academy of Art men's basketball in a 68-63 final.

In a first half that saw the ball spread out across the two rosters, 13 different players scored a bucket while no more than 10 points were scored in the first 20 minutes of the defensive battle. ART U gained a lead of seven at 22-15 after being down early in the opening period, and the score would settle at 34-29 at halftime after both the Urban Knights and Silverswords traded buckets down the stretch of the first half.

ART U's largest advantage would get up to as many as eight, but just after midway through the second half, the Silverswords caught fire with a 10-0 run to find their first lead since 13-12, knocking down a 3-pointer to go up 50-48. As Chaminade did not look back after getting ahead, they built an advantage up to nine points with under four minutes left, but six straight points from ART U got them back within three at 63-60 with one minute and 30 seconds on the clock in favor of the home team. The 'Swords eventually held the Knights off with a dunk and plethora of free throws, taking the conference win to improve to 14-9 overall and 8-8 in PacWest play.

The Knights, now 12-7 overall and 8-4 in conference action, were led by redshirt junior guard Donovan Vickers, who scored 14 points in this one while both junior forward Robbie Armbrester and senior forward Isaiah Williams added on 12 apiece. Williams additionally recorded a season-high 11 rebounds in the contest, recording his first double-double of the campaign. 

Next up, ART U will return to their home floor to host Dominican, where the Knights will compete in their Coaches vs. Cancer game on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m.