BROOKLYN, N.Y. — First-year Cameron Windt paced all scorers with 26 and scored eight in the overtime to lead the Pratt Institute men's basketball team to a 79-72 victory over borough rivals Brooklyn College on Thursday evening at the Pratt ARC.
The Cannoneers assemble a three-game win streak over NCAA opposition for the first time since starting the NCAA process. Pratt moves above the .500 mark at 6-5 and surpasses their win total from each of the past two seasons, while improving to 5-2 at the ARC with three overtime victories.
Windt drained six three-pointers – as he's done in each game of the win streak – and was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and pulled down five boards. Mekhi Davis added 19 off the bench, shooting 5-of-10 from the field and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe, while snaring eight rebounds and dishing out a trio of assists. Senior Patrick O'Gorman rounded out three in double-figures with 17 points paired with a quintet of rebounds and assists. Ace Bibbs added eight points and seven rebounds and led all players with a +25.
Pratt scored the game's first points and led through the early going, extending to a nine-point advantage at 17-8 before the Bulldogs (1-9) went on an 18-0 run to put the Cannoneers in a nine-point deficit taking their largest lead of the contest into the intermission, 35-25.
The gold-and-black whittled away at the deficit in the second stanza and finally drew even with just over five minutes in regulation on a three-point play from Davis that knotted the game at 55-all. After two more ties and Pratt still unable to regain the lead, Davis' putback layup with just over a minute to go gave Pratt their first lead of the half at 63-61. The Bulldogs would tie the game on their next possession and two blank trips by both squads left the game tied at 63-all through regulation. Davis scored 11 of his 19 points and pulled down all eight of his boards in the second half alone.
In the extra period, Pratt would shoot 71 percent (5-of-7) and 80 percent from behind-the-arc (4-of-5) to silence the Bulldogs. The Cannoneers built a 74-68 lead behind triples from Thomas Van Trier, Windt and O'Gorman. The Bulldogs pulled within two 74-72 with 40 seconds remaining before a Windt triple sealed the victory for Pratt. Windt shot 3-for-3 with two treys in the OT.
Pratt matched a season-low 13 turnovers in the victory. Brooklyn held a slight edge in shooting 36 to 35 percent, but Pratt connected on 11 threes on their home floor at a 32 percent clip while the visitors managed just four treys at a 15 percent connect rate.
Brooklyn saw four players in double-figures led by Malik Dale's 19 points. Mekhi Barlow added a 15-point, 18-rebound double-double and Stephon McGill had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.
The Cannoneers look to extend their streak to four and wrap up 2023 traveling to Connecticut to face Mitchell College on Saturday, December 9 for a 1 p.m. showdown.
