BROOKLYN, N.Y. – First-year Jaden Young hit the game-tying three-pointer near the end of regulation and the game-winning trifecta at the end of overtime to send the Pratt Institute men's basketball team to a 101-98 victory over the City College of New York in their 2023-24 season opener at home on Wednesday evening at the ARC.
Young would finish with 15 points off the bench in his first collegiate game – all coming in the final minute of regulation and overtime – and he also dished out a game-high five assists with two rebounds. Senior Patrick O'Gorman led the Cannoneers (1-0) with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Rookie Cameron Windt added 21 points in his collegiate debut.
Sophomore Justin Caver and senior Ace Bibbs both shot 50 percent from the field and finished with 12 points and three assists apiece to round out five Cannoneers in double-figure scoring. Caver also nabbed a team-high-tying seven boards and Bibbs snagged five rebounds.
The first half saw Pratt fall behind by as many as nine before pulling even with 4:20 to play and it remained a one-possession game until a 36-36 stalemate heading into the lockers. The Cannoneers scored the first six points of the second stanza and held the lead until an 11-2 Beaver run over four minutes. Pratt trailed for nearly the final 10 minutes of regulation and by as many as seven with 2:27 to play and by six with 19 seconds left before a Bibbs triple followed by a running three-point pull-up by Young with 4.1 points knotted the game at 87-all and forced an extra session.
The squads traded baskets to start the overtime and CCNY's Chris Stone converted a three-point play with 3:18 left that put the Beavers up 92-91 but also sent Pratt's leading scorer O'Gorman to the bench with five fouls. But Thomas Van Trier responded with a three-point play of his own and Young later hit a pair of free throws for a 5-0 run that put the gold-and-black up 96-92 with under two minutes to play.
CCNY responded with a 4-0 spurt to knot the game at 96-96 heading into the final minute and both teams went back-and-forth with a Young driving layup and a Yassine Sakhi layup setting the stage for Young's stepback three-pointer that fell with five seconds left. Sakhi's attempt to force a second overtime at the buzzer would draw back rim and Pratt prevailed to win their second straight season opener.
Young finished with nine of his 15 points in the overtime session and scored the final seven points for the Cannoneers.
Both teams shot well connecting on over 50 percent of their attempts, but Pratt connected on 12-of-30 from deep (40 percent) and CCNY knocked down just 4-of-14 (29 percent). CCNY held the lead for nearly 30 minutes in the contest that featured 14 ties and nine lead changes.
Sakhi led all players with game-highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds. Stone added 25 points as five Beavers also finished in double figures.
Pratt has a day off before continuing a three-game home stand to open the season and welcomes the University of Valley Forge to the ARC on Friday, November 10 for a 6 p.m. showdown.
