SEASIDE, Calif. -- This time, it counts. The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will lift the lid (officially) on its 2013-14 season Tuesday (Nov. 19) when it travels to The City to take on Pac West Conference rival Academy of Art University in a 7 p.m. tip. It will be first chance for CSUMB Head Coach Rob Bishop (@Coach_RBishop) and his staff to see their young charges play since their 78-69 exhibition win at San Jose State on Nov. 4.

As always, fans can listen live over the air on KION 1460 AM and 101.1FM and online at OtterAthletics.com. Rob Ponce will call the action from courtside.

Live stats and video will be available through the official website of ArtU Athletics, artuathletics.com. Please note that there will be an $8 charge for those who watch the live video stream.

SCOUTING THE URBAN KNIGHTS (1–1, 0–0 PWC): It's been run–and–gun for the Urban Knights through their first two games as they scored 97 points in an opening win against Cal State East Bay before giving up 90 in a loss to Humboldt State. Sophomore guard Alex Cameron led ArtU with 31 points in the 97–80 win over East Bay. Senior forward Aaron Aikman, who scored 20 versus East Bay, led the team with 26 in the 90–86 loss to Humboldt.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters ultimately won by 11, but the game was much closer than that as CSUMB didn't take the lead for good until there were fewer than nine minutes remaining in what became an 82–71 win in The Kelp Bed on Dec. 15, 2012. Alex Fertig's (Fresno/Buchanan HS) short jumper with 8:27 to play broke a 62–62 tie, starting a 12–3 run that put the Otters in control. Fertig and Derrick Anderson led a balanced CSUMB attack with 13 points apiece. Alex Cameron scored 26 to lead the Urban Knights.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The Otters' second crack at an NCAA Division I opponent proved to be the special one as CSUMB took the lead with seven minutes left in the first half and never trailed again in a 78–69 win at San Jose State. Alex Fertig led the Otters with 31 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College) came off the bench to add 14 points and four steals.

FOR OPENERS: The Otters have enjoyed recent success on opening night, winning 4 of their last 5 openers. Overall, CSUMB is a pedestrian 7–8 on opening night dating back to 1998–99.

OTHER OPENING METRICS: The Otters are 3–6 when opening on the road to start the season. They are 4–11 all–time when playing their first road game of the season.

ART EXHIBIT OPENING: This will be the second time the Otters opened against Academy of Art. In their previous opening night exhibit, CSUMB took a 66–52 decision in The Kelp Bed on Nov. 15, 2009.

A 30–SOMETHING PERFORMANCE: Although exhibition stats don't count towards official stats, the 31 points scored by sophomore guard Alex Fertig at San Jose State Nov. 4 marked the first 30–point game by an Otters since Brandon Ward scored 31 at Sonoma State on Feb. 2, 2012.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: CSUMB grabbed a season–high 56 rebounds Feb. 22 at Cal State San Bernardino. It equaled the most rebounds ever against an NCAA Division II opponent (56 vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills on Mar. 4, 2006) and trails only the 59 rebounds pulled down against Hope International (Nov. 13, 1998) on the CSUMB all–time list.

SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT: The Otters got off to a hot–shooting start in exhibition play, making 19-of-41 (46.3 percent) from beyond the arc in their exhibitions at USD and San Jose State. Alex Fertig and Ryan Nitz led the way by each making 5-of-8 3–point attempts.

THE SIX SHOOTERS: The Otters tied a school record by placing six scorers in double figures in the 108–100 loss at Humboldt State on Feb. 14. Alex Fertig led CSUMB with 18 points. Joining him in double figures were Coley Apsay with 15; Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) and Kevin Loustale with 14 each; and Julian Ball and Brandon Ward with 11 points apiece.

The only previous time six Otters reached double figures in one game came in a 122–118 triple overtime loss at Cal State L.A. on Jan. 18, 2008. The high scorers that game were: D'Shon Cannon (37), Augie Johnston (24), Joe Mitchell (24), Juston Willis (13), Steve Becker (11) and Jose Sanchez (10).

WARD FINISHES WITH CAREER SCORING RECORD: Brandon Ward put a little bit of space between himself and any would–be pursuers in the CSUMB record book. His 1,231 points broke the previous record held by Matt Dalhamer of 1,075 in the Jan. 26 win at Cal State Stanislaus. With 19 points Feb. 2 vs. Sonoma State, Ward eclipsed the 1,100 point barrier.

THE FERTIG 400: It might not happen overnight, but Brandon Ward may soon find himself looking over his shoulder at Alex Fertig chasing him up the scoring leaderboard. Fertig finished the season with 389 points, the CSUMB record for points in one season by a true freshman. That mark is good for No. 17 on the Otter single–season scoring list.

ON THE BLOCKS: Then junior forward Kris Gallop posted a team season–high four blocks Jan. 5 at Cal State L.A. That mark is tied for the No. 4 spot in the CSUMB record book and were the most blocks since Andrew Castro blocked five shots in a win at Cal Poly on Nov. 18, 2010. His 26 total blocks in 2012–13 were good for No. 5 on the CSUMB single–season list.

FERTIG AMONG CCAA SCORING LEADERS: Freshman guard Alex Fertig finished No. 10 among the CCAA scoring leaders at 13.4 points per game. He was the only freshman ranked in the top 30. Thanks in large part to those stats, Fertig was named the CCAA Freshman of the Year for 2012–13.

SO CLOSE… The Otters just missed scoring their most points in a regulation conference game during the Rob Bishop era by hanging 98 points on Cal State East Bay Dec. 30. The high water mark is 99 points in a 99–88 win at Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 30, 2009. The 98 points were the third most scored in a regulation CCAA game in Otter history, trailing only the aforementioned game at Stanislaus and 107 points (also at Stanislaus) on Jan. 19, 2007.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: By scoring 180 points versus Academy of Art (82) and Cal State East Bay (98), the Otters set a school record for points in consecutive regulation wins over NCAA Division II competition. The 2006–07 Otters scored 188 points in consecutive games versus Chico State (99) and Cal State Stanislaus (89), but fell in the Stanislaus game, 96–89.

LARGE MARGINS, HOME EDITION: Last season's opening night 104–52 win over Pacifica University set a CSUMB record for largest margin of victory (52 points) in an Otter home win. CSUMB's 78–58 win over Colorado Christian on Nov. 16 was the largest margin of victory in a road game during the Road Bishop era at CSUMB. The previous record was 19 points in an 83–64 win at Cal State East Bay on Feb. 3, 2011.