GAME #9
Academy of Art (2-6, 1-2 PacWest) vs. Montana State-Billings (4-4, 1-1 GNAC)
December 14, 2013 at 2:30 PM PT
Las Vegas, NV -- Orleans Arena
Live Stats | Live Video

GAME #10
Academy of Art (2-6, 1-2 PacWest) vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills (4-4, 1-2 CCAA)
December 14, 2013 at 1:30 PM PT
Las Vegas, NV -- Orleans Arena
Live Stats | Live Video

GAME #11
Academy of Art (2-6, 1-2 PacWest) vs. California Baptist (9-0, 3-0 PacWest)
December 14, 2013 at 3:00 PM
Riverside, CA -- Van Dyne Gym
Live Stats | Live Video

TIPPING OFF
ART U continued their tough stretch against hot teams in the conference with a close loss to Dominican University last Saturday. The Urban Knights had a couple chances down the stretch and Alexis Moore dropped 18 points and dished out five assists, but couldn't get over the top on the Penguins, who held the Knights off in a 76-70 contest. They'll play their final two non-conference games before heading on the road for a PacWest matchup to close out the calendar year.

HOME IS SWEET FOR YELLOW JACKETS
Montana State-Billings is coming off a four-game homestand over the past three weeks where they went 3-1, scoring at least 76 points in their three wins and losing a close game to GNAC foe Northwest Nazarene. The Jackets dropped Rocky Mountain College 81-72, defeated in-state rivals Montana State-Northern 76-41, and defeated Central Washington 82-67 in their GNAC opener before the potential game-winner rimmed out against NNU. MSUB has four players averaging in double-figures, led by forward Jonathan Mesghna (13.6 ppg), who also leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per contest. ART U will also have to contend with 6'7 forward Austin Hudson, who is shooting 73.6% from the field and is averaging 11.0 points per game.

KNIGHTS TRIO CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Urban Knights have three players approaching a substantial milestone on the career leaderboard, as Aaron Aikman (194), Alex Carmon (182), and Aaron Anderson (172) are approaching the 200 rebound mark. All three are in the top ten, ranking 7-8-9, respectively, but are right on the heels of Ameer Shamsud-din (206) and former player and current coach Phillip Samuel (211). Carmon is leading the team with 7.8 boards per contest, while Anderson ranks third (4.9 rpg) and Aikman is right behind him with 4.8 rpg. There are currently six Knights with 200+ rebounds in program history, but only one with more than 300, that being four-year big man Hunter Hayden, who sits atop the leaderboard with 612 rebounds.

TOROS ARE ROAD WARRIORS SO FAR
Cal State Dominguez Hills has played in eight games and three CCAA matchups already, but have yet to play at home during the regular season this year. They started the year 2-1 at the West Coast Tip-Off Classic in nearby Anaheim, split their games at the Cougar Classic, hosted by Azusa Pacific, and started the CCAA schedule on the road against Cal State L.A., Cal State East Bay, and Cal State Monterey Bay. They even squeezed in an exhibition against Division I Cal Poly before heading to Nevada for the Las Vegas Challenge, and won't play their first home game until December 22. Givon Crump is leading the Toros at 17.3 points per game, while DeShaun Freeman is also in double figures at 10.5, albeit in only four games. CSUDH beat the Knights last year in Phoenix, but that game's leading scorer, Lamine Diame, has since graduated.

ART U'S HOMETOWN HEROES
With the addition of Herman Pratt IV to the roster this year, the Knights now have two local products on their squad from the city of San Francisco. Pratt, out of Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, joins Aaron Anderson (Riordan HS) as another highly touted defensively-minded guard who has elevated his offensive game as well. Pratt is right at 50 percent for the season (22-for-44), and is leading the team in three-point percentage as well (.471).

LANCERS TURN AROUND TO PLAY HOST
The Knights played a close game that got away late against California Baptist last week, and finishing out their road trip, the Lancers defeated Holy Names in Oakland and Fresno Pacific at home in Riverside. Ryan Berg had 25 points against the Hawks in Oakland to lead the Lancers and repeated that feat again when the Sunbirds came to town, totaling 20 points against Fresno Pacific. Against FPU, California Baptist had five players in double figures, while against the Hawks they had three players top the 10-point plateau.

IN TRANSITION
After finishing off the calendar year in Riverside, the Urban Knights will head home for the holidays and then hop right back on the road to Hawaii, where they'll take on Hawaii Pacific, BYU-Hawaii, and Chaminade to start off 2014.