SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- Academy of Art left it on the floor. Every piece of them. Every one of them. Every last ounce of effort poured out onto the hardwood floor of the Conlan Recreation Center so they could play just one more day. And though in the end ART U was bested by No. 4 Azusa Pacific, one thing was clear, Academy of Art deserved to be there.

The historic game got underway with a historic basket, senior guard Cobe Williams' 106th 3-pointer that broke the all-time record. The milestone basket sparked an early run for the Urban Knights who took a 9-3 lead on a trio of deep balls including back to back treys from sophomore guard Stefan Milivojevic. The Cougars cut the lead to one point on a couple different occasions throughout the half and even tied the game at 24 with 5:22, but ART U went into the half leading 32-30 and without trailing for a single second.

APU claimed their first lead of the day less than a minute into the second half, but ART U kept it close and with three straight scores by senior guard Cole Morgan the Knights tied the game at 49. After a back and forth battle junior forward Andrija Blatancic scored a fast break layup to bring the Knights within one, down 62-63 with 59 seconds on the clock. After a Cougar three put ART U down 62-65 junior guard Victor Ruiz de Carranza found himself with the ball in his hands as time expired. He hurriedly dribbled back beyond the 3-point arc and launched a desperation shot. ART U held their breath, waiting to see if the ball was in or out, but they never found out. The ball was goaltended before it reached the basket, giving ART U a free three points and tying the game at 65 with no time left to force overtime. But, the Cougars pulled away in overtime and cut Academy of Art's first trip to the PacWest Championship short.

The road to San Rafael was riddled with speed bumps, but the Urban Knights persevered and found themselves competing for a PacWest Championship for the first time. With the loss, Academy of Art ends with an overall record of 11-17, but the 2018-2019 men's basketball team can find solace in being the only team to reach the postseason in ART U history.