BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Junior Patrick O'Gorman scored a game- and season-high 28 points to lead a quintet of Cannoneers scoring in double figures and the Pratt Institute men's basketball team used a strong second half to prevail, 82-75, over Saint Elizabeth University on Thursday evening at the Activity Resource Center.
Pratt (4-10) erased a seven-point first-half deficit and outscored Saint Elizabeth (3-7), 47-36, in the second half in the back-and-forth contest that featured 11 ties and eight lead changes. The Cannoneers shot a near-perfect 26-of-27 from the charity stripe to secure their first win of 2023.
O'Gorman went a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line to go along with 6-of-14 shooting from the field that included three triples to lead all scorers, also nabbing five boards and handing out three assists. Sophomore Cameron Hatcher posted a near double-double with 12 points, nine caroms, and game-highs of five dimes and five steals.
First-year Sebastion Roda chipped in 11 points off the bench and juniors Daniel Golub and Ace Bibbs netted 10 points each. Golub also had five boards with four steals and Bibbs had three rebounds with two assists and two thefts.
Saint Elizabeth was paced by Pierre Harden's 21 points and seven rebounds. D'Angelo Blackmond had 18 points and nine boards as four scored in double figures for the visitors.
Pratt trailed by as many as seven early, 15-8, before later using an 8-0 run to move back ahead at 22-20. The Cannoneers pulled away by as many as three but the Eagles closed the half on a 9-2 run to lead 39-35 at the intermission.
The black-and-gold leveled the game two minutes in to keep a one-possession game for most of the early parts of the second half. With the game tied at 47-all, the Cannoneers rattled off an 18-5 run over six minutes, capped off by O'Gorman's three-point play to build the first double-digit separation of the game, 63-52, with 7:57 to go.
Pratt led by as many as 13 before seeing their cushion shrink to four, 72-68, with three minutes remaining, but the Cannoneers kept it mostly a two-possession game maintaining their distance from the charity stripe shooting 6-of-7 down the stretch. Pratt shot 13-of-14 from the stripe in the second half, while the Eagles managed just 13-of-22.
The Cannoneers look to extend their winning ways in 2023 traveling to Bryn Athyn College on Monday, January 9. Tip-off from Pennsylvania is set for 6 p.m.
