BROOKLYN, N.Y. - February 15, 2019 - The Pratt Institute men's basketball team picked up its tenth win on the year in thrilling fashion on Friday night in the ARC as the Cannoneers came back from a 19-point 2nd half deficit, to defeat the New School, 60-59 on Senior Night and Autism Awareness Night.
With the win, Pratt reaches double digits victories for the first time in head coach Max Sass' tenure, with one game remaining, and are now 10-9, while the Narwhals dropped to 4-9.
Snapping a three-game losing streak, the Cannoneers were led by the trio of Griffin Levine (Dallas, Tex.), Tytus Millikan (Winnemucca, Nev.) and Akil Philip (Queens, N.Y.), who combined for 43 of the team's 60 points. Levine put together another efficient performance, totaling 19 points on 14 shots, while Millikan totaled 13 points and four boards, and Philip stuffed the stat-sheet with 11 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Pratt owned a 48-41 edge on the glass and had 30 points in the paint to the New School's 16.
Will Howell netted 32 points in the setback for the Narwhals, while Shiva Trieu had 10 points to go along with nine rebounds, and six assists. The New School drained 11 triples to Pratt's five for the game.
Levine finished in the paint at the 12:17 mark to give the Cannoneers an early 15-14 lead, but that would be the only lead for the home team in the opening period. The New School would go on a 25-8 run, punctuated by a Howell layup plus the foul with 57 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the visitors a 39-23 cushion going into the break. After 20 minutes of play, the Cannoneers were shooting 9-27 (33.3%) and had only made one three pointer, while the Narwhals had knocked down six triples.
A shot from beyond the arc from Howell gave the New School a 42-23 lead just 58 seconds into the second half, but a 6-0 burst that was started by a three from Millikan cut the deficit to 13 with 17:28 to play. Following free throws from Philip at the 13:54 mark, Pratt climbed back to within 11 points. At 10:32 remaining, Philip drilled a triple, sparking a 10-0 run, capped by a layup from Millikan at the 7:36 mark, with the Cannoneers trailing 50-48.
Pratt would regain a 52-51 lead when Levine converted an inside finish off an assist from classmate David Sleziak (Brooklyn, N.Y.), with 6:07 to go in the game, only to have the New School respond with a 6-0 surge to lead 57-52 at the 4:10 mark. Following another three from Howell, the Cannoneers found themselves down 60-55 with 2:18 left. With 45 seconds to go, Levine sliced into the lane for an easy finish, 60-58, and then following a pair of missed free throws from the Narwhals, Pratt was able to race the ball past mid-court and call its final timeout with four seconds remaining.
With a packed ARC crowd on its feet, Levine made his way into the lane and drew a foul with 0.7 seconds on the clock, and the first-year guard knocked down both free throws to give the Cannoneers the 60-59 come-back victory.
Up Next: Pratt will wrap up the regular season on Sunday when they travels to face Five Towns College for a 1:00 PM tilt. On February 6, Five Towns escaped from Pratt with a narrow 84-80 overtime win over the Cannoneers.
