ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY - The Pratt Institute's men's basketball team (3-7) used the best shooting performance of the season to narrowly edge Bard College, 76-74 on Saturday afternoon.
Patrick O'Gorman led the way with 24 points including the game winning field goal on 11-18 from the floor. Â
Cameron Hatcher added 16 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals while
Thomas Van Trier added a career high 14 points and 6 rebounds.
The Cannoneers land Bard had a highly contested first half as neither team led by more than five in the first 20 minutes. Â Both teams shot well from the floor and the evenly matched game went into the break tied at 38.
The second half began with Bard outscoring Pratt, 20-10 over the first eight minutes to take a 58-48 lead, the largest of the game.  Pratt stormed back over thr next three minutes, scoring the next nine points to cut thr deficit to 58-57.
Pratt's first lead of the second half came with 6:22 remaining in regulation as O'Gorman converted a driving layup to give the Cannoneers a 64-63 advantage.
Back-and-forth action followed for the next five minutes and with Bard leading 74-73 with just over a minute remaining, O'Gorman knocked down the game winning jumper off an assist from Hatcher to give Pratt a 75-74 lead. Â
Daniel Golub would add a late free throw and Pratt's defense caused two turnovers in the final 40 seconds to give the Cannoneers the 76-74 victory.
Pratt shot 56.9% from the floor for the game, a season best. Â They also shot 62.96% from the floor in the second half, the best for the season in a half.Â
Pratt has a month off for winter break before returning to action on January 11 when it hosts Medgar Evers College at 7 pm.
