AZUSA, Calif. -- In a hard fought battle, Academy of Art fell to Azusa Pacific 77-62, Thursday night at the Felix Event Center. Even after the loss ART U is not out of playoff contention and can make their first PacWest Championship tournament if they defeat Biola on Saturday and UH Hilo loses to Chaminade the same day.

ART U opened the game with a layup from junior forward Andrija Blatancic to give the Knights an early advantage. Blatancic has been a workhorse for the team throughout the season, consistently putting up double digit numbers. Against the Cougars he finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Cougars took a 7-4 lead, but a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Stefan Milivojevic tied things up with 15:33 to play. APU went on a run after and extended their lead by as much as 19. The Urban Knights headed into the locker room down 41-23 at the half. Milivojevic had an explosive performance against APU finishing with a team leading 16 points. He went 6-of-10 from the field and shot 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.

The Cougar's lead extended into the second half and increased to as many as 24, but with 17:29 to play the Urban Knights went on an 11-0 run nearly cutting the deficit in half. The run started with a fast break layup by Blatancic off his own defensive rebound. ART U scored three more layups and completed the run with a huge 3-pointer from senior guard Kiel Long to bring the score to 49-36.

APU answered back and extended their lead once more, but the Urban Knights would not be counted out. With 4:15 to play ART U narrowed the lead to 68-59 after back-to-back three point plays from junior guard Victor Ruiz de Carranza and Blatancic. Carranza ended with his usual eclectic stat line, collecting six rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Despite ART U's strong performance in the second half,  ART U could not overcome the deficit created earlier in the game and fell to the Cougars 77-62.

The Urban Knights will play their final regular season game against Biola Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will decide their playoff fate.