BROOKYLN – Pratt Institute fell to visiting Berkeley (NY) College 86-44 Thursday night in Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball play at the Pratt ARC.
Junior forward Ari Grant led the Cannoneers with a double-double of 14 points and game-highs of 11 rebounds and two blocks, and freshman Andrew Yaglenski added 11 points, but Pratt was held to 30 percent shooting and forced into 27 turnovers in falling to 6-9 (0-4 HVIAC).
For Berkeley (14-5, 5-0 HVIAC), which converted 44 percent shooting on the night, Keenan Langston led all scorers with 17 points. Stephon Jennings shot a perfect 4-4 from the field for his nine points, and a dozen different Knights converted a field goal in the win.
The visitors' end-to-end pressure forced turnovers in Pratt's first five possessions as the visitors scored the game's first 11 points. Back-to-back Langston dunks extended Berkeley's lead to 21-2 before the Cannoneers rallied to cut the margin to single digits.
An Adam Blufarb three-pointer pulled Pratt to within 14 before a turnaround jumper and slashing finger roll lay-in from Grant cut the margin to 27-18 at the 9:00 mark of the first. From there, Langston's trey ignited a 15-1 Knights run capped by a Langston-to-Jennings back-door alley-opp just before the buzzer, sending Berkeley into halftime leading 42-19.
Starting at the 17:58 mark of the second, back-to-back Langston layups started a 10-0 run that distanced the visitors for good. Pratt was held to only 27 percent shooting after halftime, as Berkeley out rebounded the Cannoneers 33-22 on the night.
Pratt returns to action in HVIAC on Sunday at the Culinary Institute of America.
