SAN FRANCISCO -- Academy of Art 2018-2019 men's basketball saw ups and downs, all-time records, historic upsets, conference and region accolades, and culminated with a first ever PacWest Championship appearance and barn burning overtime thrills.    

The season started Nov. 9 at the SF State Classic, where ART U dropped its first two games to SF State and Sonoma State. The close 68-66 overtime loss to SSU saw strong individual performances by sophomore guard Stefan Milivojevic, junior forward Victor Ruiz de Carranza, and senior center Cameron Niven.

Offensively, Milivojevic lead the team in points after scoring a career-high 20 points, while Carranza put together his first career double-double. The junior out of Spain scored 12 points and snagged 12 rebounds. On the defensive side of the ball, Niven had a strong performance with a season-high four blocks. In his final season as an Urban Knight, Niven produced solid numbers across the board. Playing in all 28 games, the senior out of Castro Valley scored 8.3 points per game for a total of 223 points, 4.1 rebounds per game, and a team leading 25 blocks.

After a stretch of close losses, the highlight of which was an overtime battle against Concordia in which junior forward Andrija Blatancic earned his first double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, a sigh of relief exhaled from the Urban Knights when they captured their first win of the season Dec. 8 against Notre Dame de Namur by a nerve wrecking score of 48-47. The win marked the beginning of a stand-out season for Blatancic. In the game against the Argonauts, Blatancic led the team with 16 points, a career-high at that point, and shot 8-of-10 from the field. In his first season with the Knights, Blatancic broke ART U's single season scoring average with his 17.8 points per game which was third highest in the PacWest. His 409 points mark the eighth highest total points in a single season in program history.

The Knights second win of the season came against Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 31. In the New Year's Eve battle, ART U shot an exceptional 58.2 percent from the field and Blatancic set a new career high with 26 points while also collecting 11 rebounds.

ART U tipped off 2019 with a firework-like bang by shocking No. 12 Chaminade 71-69 on Jan. 1 to pull off the biggest upset in program history. ART U led by as many as 15 points in a game that goes down as not just a major upset, but one of the biggest wins in program history. This time it was senior guard Cobe Williams who had a huge night, scoring a season high 17 points and shooting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Knights hit a two game slump, dropping games to UH Hilo and Biola, yet, even in the losses there were high points. Blatancic shined in the Jan. 4 match-up against the Vulcans, raising his career-high in points to 31. The sixth highest single game scoring performance in ART U history also marked his third consecutive game with 24 or more points. He shot an impressive 11-of-15 from the field, and 9-of-11 from the line, contributing to the Knights' field goal percentage of 50. After the performance against UHH, Blatancic scored PacWest Player of the Week on Jan 7. In a span of three games, the Communications and Media Technologies scored 81 points, had two straight double-doubles, and shot a tremendous 69 percent from the field.

The pair of losses lit a fire under the Knights who proceeded on a three-game winning streak. The streak started with their most lopsided win of the season when they dominated Fresno Pacific 75-52, in the their Jan. 12 meeting. ART U's defense was on display in a game in which they held the Sunbirds to just 34.1 percent from the field and a minuscule 18.8 percent from beyond the arc. An all around team win, Academy of Art had points from 10 different Knights including four players in double figures and Blatancic's fourth double-double.

ART U set a season high in points in back to back games, starting with an 81-78 win over Dominican on Jan 17 in which the Knights shot an exceptional 53.8 percent from 3-point range. Once again, Blatancic put up massive numbers, ending the night with a career high 33 points and 13 rebounds for yet another double-double. In the first of many crucial wins to determine postseason eligibility, ART U succeeded in a come from behind 82-79 overtime victory against Holy Names on Jan. 19. In one of the most spectacular performances of the year sophomore guard Dante Williams came off the bench and scored a career high 32 points while shooting 10-of-17 from the field to lead the Knights to victory.

A trio of losses to strong opponents came next, but a silver lining shined through in the form of a career-high 10 assist game by C. Williams who had his eye set on the career assists record.

Back to back wins came from Dominican, to complete the series sweep, and UH Hilo in Hawaii. In their final meetup of the season ART U looked strong against the Penguins, collecting a season high 20 assists and converting 22 points off turnovers for a 79-62 victory. Another key playoff picture win, the Urban Knights defeated the Vulcans 68-63 in a historic game that saw Cobe Williams overtake the all-time assists record with the 202nd assist of his career.

Headed into the home stretch ART U went back and forth between wins and losses. The Knights dropped away games to HPU and to Chaminade next. C. Williams got red hot in the late season games, scoring a career-high 26 points against the Silverswords while moving into second on the programs career 3-pointers made list. With the two losses came two wins for the Urban Knights. ART U won a critical game over Holy Names 77-71 that set them up to take the No. 5 seed in the PacWest Championship because they held the tie-breaker over HNU and UHH. The win came on a stellar performance from the line, sinking a season high 29 free throws. ART U took care of business next, dominating NDNU 61-48 in their final home game of the season on senior night.

The win against the Argonauts commemorated the five seniors: Cole Morgan, Brenden Otero, Kiel Long, Cobe Williams, and Cameron Niven. Prior to tip-off the five seniors were honored for their hard work and dedication to the program throughout their time at Academy of Art. It was fitting then that C. Williams would tie the all-time 3-pointers record in front of friends and family, with the 105th deep ball of his career.

In the final road trip of the season, the Urban Knights traveled to Southern California to face off against APU and Biola and decide the fate of their playoff chances. It came down to winning one game and after dropping a 77-62 game to the Cougars, ART U did just that. The Knights fell behind early in the first half, but thanks to clutch performances by multiple ART U players, the Urban Knights triumphed with a 61-57 victory over Biola. Milivojevic scored a career high 22 points and shot a phenomenal 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the win that propelled ART U to its first ever playoff appearance, where they were set for a rematch against No. 4 seed APU.

Taking on the Cougars in the PacWest Championship, ART U left it all on the court. The Urban Knights took control early with a record breaking 3-pointer from C. Williams that marked his 106th career 3-pointer to claim the all-time record. In his final season as an Urban Knight C. Williams cemented himself in the Academy of Art men's basketball record book claiming the all-time 3-pointers made record and all-time assists record.

ART U fought valiantly on the historic night and took the Cougars into overtime after a crazy goaltending call favored the Urban Knights. But the Cougars quickly took control in the overtime period to send ART U home on a 76-67 loss. Though their postseason run was cut short, one thing was made clear after the game, Academy of Art unequivocally deserve to be there. The Urban Knights ended their season with an overall record of 11-17 and a conference record of 11-11.

More program firsts came after the season when Blatancic became the first Urban Knight men's basketball player to be named All-PacWest First Team. The honor came after a season in which he led the conference in rebounds per game (8.5), was third in scoring (17.8), and fifth in field goal percentage (.540). Shortly thereafter Blatancic was honored with an even more elusive All-Region Second Team honor as announced by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association on March 15.

The 2018-2019 Academy of Art men's basketball team goes down as not just the most successful team in program history, but the most resilient and tenacious. The team started the season 0-6, but they never gave up, they persevered because they knew how good they could be, and when they started playing like it the results came in the form of huge upsets, statistical records, historic moments, and the first ever postseason appearance. The Urban Knights will unquestionably be a team to watch in 2019-2020.