BROOKLYN -- Pratt Institute improved to 4-8 with its first Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference victory of the season, besting visiting Sarah Lawrence College 48-31 Tuesday night at the Pratt ARC.
Forward Nicholas Lensander's (Santa Barbara, CA) career-high 10 points, all before halftime, marked one of three Cannoneers in double figures, and fellow freshman Ari Grant (Denver, CO) led all players with 24 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks, locking up his sixth straight double-double. Pratt point guard Sam Peterson (New Rochelle, NY) added 10 points on 6-7 shooting at the line to go with a game-best five assists as the Cannoneers cruised.
Pratt jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind a pair of Peterson assists and three straight Lensander baskets, forcing a Sarah Lawrence timeout at the 14:00 mark of the first. The Cannoneers led by three or more points the remainder of the period, and a Grant lay-in sent Pratt into halftime with a comfortable 25-16 lead. Julius Allen's club forced 11 first half turnovers and held the Gryphons to 7-25 shooting for the frame.
The Cannoneers defense persisted after the half, never allowing Sarah Lawrence inside of 10 points the remainder of the way and holding the visitors to 17 percent (4-24) shooting for the half. Grant, meanwhile, picked up the pace down the stretch, scoring 17 of his game-high 24 in the second in distancing the Cannoneers.
For the Gryphons, John Collector (Santa Barbara, CA) led the team with 13 points on 2-6 shooting from three-point range, and Francis Oppong (Brooklyn, NY) added nine points and nine rebounds as Sarah Lawrence fell to 4-13 overall and 0-6 in the HVMAC.
Pratt (4-8, 1-5 HVMAC) returns to the court in non-conference play Friday night at 7:30 in non-confernece play at Cooper Union.
