BELMONT, Calif. – In a situation where they could control their own destiny, the Academy of Art men's basketball team pulled out a 67-60 victory over Notre Dame de Namur to punch their ticket to the Pacific West Conference postseason tournament.
 
"I could not be happier for this group of young men," said ART U head coach Scott Waterman. "We have been through ups and downs all year and they have stayed the course and continued to buy in to what we have asked. Tonight's game was another example of how far this team has come. The great thing is we get to continue playing next week in the conference tournament."
 
The win gives the Urban Knights (12-17, 10-12 PacWest) a total of 12 wins on the season, which matches the program record for wins in a season (2016-17). It also makes ART U the sixth seed at the PacWest championships, which begin on Thursday. This will be the second straight year that the Urban Knights have made it to the tournament, having done so for the first time in program history last season.

Five minutes into the game it was the Argonuats (4-25, 3-19 PacWest) on top, but a 10-0 run for ART U over the next three minutes would flip the script. The rest of the half would be all Urban Knights, as they would establish a comfortable lead going into the break, 39-26.
 
With the ART U lead still hovering at about 12 points midway through the second frame, NDNU made its move and pulled off a 14-2 run to tie the game with just under five minutes to go. After the two teams traded buckets, a jumper from junior guard Monte Lambert and a layup from junior Josh Hill would give ART U the chance to ice the game from the free throw stripe down the stretch, which they would do with a pair of free throws from senior guard Victor Ruiz de Carranza.

 "We had a great first half of sharing the ball and making plays for each other," Waterman said. "In the second half, after NDNU made a run to tie the game, we responded and made plays down the stretch."

One point off of his career high was Hill, dropping a team-high 20 points on 9-for-12 (75 percent) shooting to go along with six rebounds. Also finishing in double-digit scoring was Milivojevic with 13 and seven rebounds, while Ruiz de Carranza, the number two rebounder in ART U history, finished with a game-high 13 rebounds and seven points.
 
Leading the way for the Argos was Ajay Singh, ending with 18 points and a game-high 6 assists, while Trevor Thompson was just behind him with 15 points and a team-high four rebounds.
 
The PacWest championships will kick off on Thursday, March 5 when the sixth seeded Urban Knights begin the men's action at 5 p.m. against the No. 3 seed, which has yet to be determined. You can find all the latest news about the PacWest championships here.