HILO, Hawai`i--Academy of Art used a suffocating defense to lead from start to finish in taking down UH Hilo on Friday night at the Civic Auditorium, 74-64.

The gritty victory for the Urban Knights spoiled the Vulcans' opportunity to improve to 4-1 in the Pacific West Conference. Instead, they drop to 3-2 in conference play and to 4-8 overall. Academy of Art improved to 4-4 in the PacWest and to 5-9 on the season.

The Urban Knights, ranked second in the PacWest in defense, held the Vulcans to 17 percent accuracy from three-point range and 38 percent from the field. 

Devin Johnson led the Vulcans with 23 and 10 rebounds. It was a Vulcan-career high for the Lower Columbia CC transfer. Ryley Callaghan added 12 points and five assists, Trey Ingram had ten points and five assists and Denhym Brooke just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards.

Kendall Brown had 15 points to lead the Urban Knights, including a number of free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Academy of Art jumped out to a 6-0 lead to begin the game and the Vulcans didn't get on the scoreboard until a Johnson basket over three and a half minutes into the contest. The Urban Knights would stretch their lead to 16-3 six minutes into the evening, before the Vulcans started to find some range. With five minutes left in the half, another Johnson basket cut the margin to 26-21, followed by a Callaghan three-pointer that made it a two-point game (26-24). Callaghan would soon tie the game with another long bomb (38-38) before AAU would get the last bucket of the half to lead at intermission, 42-40.

The second half began a lot like the first. AAU pushed their lead out to 55-43, outscoring the Vulcans 13-3 in the opening moments. UH Hilo fought back again, climbing back to within three points on a Brooke basket with 7:15 remaining. With 4:41 left, a Johnson bank shot in the paint kept the deficit at three (62-59).

But Zuri Williams then made his mark on the game in a big way. First, he hit a pair of free throws, and then on AAU's next possession, he drained a three-pointer just as the shot clock expired (67-59). The Vulcans would get no closer than six points the rest of the way, as Brown nailed free throws down the stretch.

The Urban Knights hit 8-of-20 three pointers on the night, converted 16 of 20 free throw opportunities and out-rebounded the Vulcans, 44-37. 

UH Hilo will next hit the road for four games in eight nights in northern California, beginning with a Jan. 13 game at Fresno Pacific.