SEASIDE, Calif. – Academy of Art started the final day of the Otter Invitational strong, building a 13 point lead against host Cal State Monterey Bay before falling to the Otters 81-74 on Saturday afternoon inside The Kelp Bed.  

"Tonight despite the final score, I felt like we finally played at the tempo we want to play," said head coach Scott Waterman. "However, we struggled shooting the ball and couldn't get timely stops, which is difficult to overcome. We must not hang our heads, but instead use this week of practice to continue to build for PacWest play."

After the game, senior forward Tim Graham was named to the All-Tournament Team. The award comes after Graham scored a total of 22 points, collected 16 rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal in the tournament. 

Junior guard Stefan Milivojevic and Graham both scored a team high 15 points, while junior guard Joshua Bagley stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and one steal. Milivojevic also tied his career-high in assists with six. As a team, the Urban Knights put up a season-high in points (74), assists (16), steals (9), and blocks (3). They also shot a season-best 81.3 percent from the free throw line and surrendered a season-low turnovers.

Rocking the all-white unis for the first time this season, ART U came out clean, with a beautiful 3-pointer by Graham seven seconds into the game. The Knights pulled ahead 10-5 when junior guard Kai Tease drained another ball from beyond the arc. ART U started the game red hot from long distance, making three of their first four 3-pointers. A 10-0 run was topped off by a successful three-point play from Milivojevic and a jumper from Bagley for a 20-8 ART U lead. 

The Otters clawed themselves back into the game as they narrowed the gap to 33-29 with 5:47 on the clock. A 3-pointer from CSUMB with 2:58 remaining cut ART U's lead to a single point at 35-34. The Knights extended it slightly by the end of the half to 40-36 on a final deep ball from Milivojevic. At the end of the first half, Academy of Art was shooting an excellent  42.9 percent (6-14) from 3-point range. 

The Otters tied the game 40-40 less than one minute into the second half. Junior forward Josh Hill reclaimed the lead with a fastbreak layup but CSUMB went ahead for the first time two minutes later. It would be the final lead change of the game. Academy of Art fought valiantly and cut the lead to as little as five on multiple occasions, but the Otters hung on for the 81-74 win. 

After the loss ART U falls to 2-3 on the season. The Urban Knights will now look ahead to a non-conference game with Chico State on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at Kezar Pavilion.