HYDE PARK, NY -- Seventeen percent first half shooting and a 12-point first half proved too much to overcome in Pratt's 68-37 loss at the Culinary Institute of America Sunday afternoon in Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
Guard Matthew Valentine paced Pratt with 10 points on 4-7 shooting in 20 minutes of reserve duty. Forward Nicholas Lensander and Tom Xia led all players with three steals each as Pratt turned the Steels over 21 times on the day but shot just 21 percent from the floor.
A layup from Cannoneers guard Todd Fu made it a 5-4 game at the 17:30 mark of the first, but CIA then tore off a 15-0 run spanning four-plus minutes led by four three pointers, effectively putting the contest out of reach. A Sam Peterson layup brought Pratt to within a dozen at 20-8 at the 11:30 mark, but another 15-0 run capped by a pair of Britton Avery field goals sent CIA into the locker room leading 43-12.
Six of Valentine's 10 came in the second, when Pratt cooled the Steels down to 14 percent (1-7) shooting from three-point range after hitting 50 percent (5-10) in the first. The Cannoneers, though, managed just 24 percent (9-37) shooting in the second and shot 0-7 from deep in dropping to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in HVIAC play.
Led by Britton's 16 points on 7-14 shooting, CIA improves to 6-10 overall, 2-5 in the HVIAC.
