BROOKLYN – Cooper Union's Andrew Keane converted a pair of free throws with two seconds left to snap a 49-49 tie, while the Cannoneers missed three free throws in the final minute of a tied game, falling 51-49 to the visiting Hawks in non-conference men's basketball play Friday night at the ARC.
Freshman Bubby Vernon led Pratt with 16 points, four assists, and seven steals on 4-10 shooting from three-point range. Andrew Yaglenski followed with 14 points and four assists but converted on only 1-9 shooting at the free throw line. On the night, the Cannoneers knocked down 1-11(nine percent) free throws, the difference in the team's two-point loss.
For Cooper Union, Keane led all scorers with 17 points, and Adam O'Connor Jamia and Stephen Tang followed with 11 each.
Pratt took a 14-7 lead on a Mehmet Doganata jumper before an 11-0 Hawks run capped by back-to-back Keane jumpers pulled the visitors on top 18-14. A 10-2 Pratt run, the last seven points from Vernon, swung the Cannoneers back on top 24-20 at the 3:27 mark of the first half, and an Andray Kovalev jumper with four seconds remaining in the frame knotted the game at 26-26 at the intermission.
Vernon's second triple of the game extended the lead to 33-28 at the 16:00 mark, and after a Yaglenski basket, Pratt led 38-30 at the 11:10 juncture of the second half.
A Yaglenski lay-in at the 2:40 mark provided breathing room after the Hawks cut the margin to one. Kovalev knocked down a pair of free throws at the 2:36 mark in starting what became a 7-2 run – all points coming at the free throw stripe -- to close out the Hawks comeback. At the 1:19 mark, he snapped a 47-47 tie by going 2-4 at the stripe, two free throws part of a technical foul on the Pratt bench, and his Hawks never again trailed.
With Cooper Union on top 49-47 with 41 seconds to play, Cannoneers freshman Isaac Green's tip-in off a missed Vernon three-pointer tied the contest, but his free throw to potentially give Pratt the lead bounced wide. The Cannoneers final three possessions, all with the chance to tie or take the lead, resulted in a pair of missed Yaglenski free throws, a Vernon offensive foul, and a missed desperation Yaglenski running catch-and-shoot from outside the left block after a full court pass.
Keane's freebies in the final two seconds sealed the Hawks first win of the season, and Pratt fell to 2-3 on the season.
The Cannoneers return to play Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. against Touro College at Baruch College.
