SAN FRANCISCO – In one of the closest back-and-forth battles that Academy of Art has seen this season, ART U men's basketball found themselves on the wrong end of a 71-69 score to Fresno Pacific.
 
The Sunbirds jumped out to a quick, 4-point lead to begin the first half as they landed a pair of unanswered 2-point plays. However, the Urban Knights took their first lead of game at the 17:14 mark (8-6) when junior guard Kiel Long rained down his second 3-point of the contest. Nonetheless, FPU responded with a 13-0 run to give themselves an 11-point, 19-8 lead which proved to be their biggest advantage of the contest.
 
The Urban Knights' offense fired right back and whittled the deficit down to just one point at the 4:22 mark when freshman guard Stefan Milivojevic hit a triple to make it 28-27. Then, just over a minute later, junior center Cameron Niven put in a layup to complete the comeback, giving ART U a 29-28 lead with 3:08 to play in the first half. In the remaining three minutes, both sides went back and forth, but Fresno Pacific managed to recapture the lead and took a 2-point, 35-33 advantage into the locker rooms at halftime.
 
Academy of Art began the second period firing on all cylinders, tying the game at 37 points apiece at the 18:22 mark and they held on to a 2-point lead with 16:16 remaining. The Sunbirds then held the lead for the next five minutes of playing time, taking as much as a 6-point advantage. However, ART U fought right back and another Niven layup handed the Urban Knights a 51-49 lead with 10:45 to play.
 
Niven's field goal sparked an 11-2 run by the Urban Knights which was highlighted by five points from Milivojevic. Their streak culminated with a 9-point, 60-51 advantage with 6:39 to play. However, FPU went on a quick, 10-point run of their own to regain the lead, 61-60.
 
The score changed hands four more times in the remaining 4:13, with ART U leading by one point with as little as 42 seconds left on the clock. However, a layup and free throw gave the Sunbirds back a 2-point advantage. Then, two possessions later, sophomore guard Gary Davis came up big with a layup to tie the game at 69-69 with just six seconds to play. Now with the ball and only six seconds to put up a shot, Fresno Pacific put up an attempt with one second to go. However, looking to thwart their efforts, junior guard Cole Morgan leapt forward, but he landed on the shooter, injuring the player and drawing a foul. Head coach Julius Barnes was allowed to pick a member of the Eagles who would receive the three free throws and he chose Sam Burt who had just missed his two previous attempts moments earlier. Nevertheless, Burt sunk both free throws and, without enough time to respond, Academy of Art fell to FPU by the score of 71-69.
 
Milivojevic led the Urban Knights with a career-high, 17 points. The Skobanja Serbia native also contributed five rebounds and a steal. Then, with 13 points and 11 rebounds, Niven was ART U's biggest all-around contributor as Thursday night's double-double was the third of this season. Niven also provided two of the team's three blocks and recorded a steal as well.
 
Despite the loss, it is still possible for Academy of Art to receive a berth into the PacWest tournament thanks to Chaminade's loss at UH Hilo. In order to capture the sixth and final seed, ART U must defeat Concordia in their regular season finale on Feb. 24 and Chaminade will have to lose their game to third-place Azusa Pacific on the same night.
 
All eyes will be on those two contests come Saturday night, starting with ART U's tipoff against the Eagles at 3:30 p.m.