BROOKLYN, N.Y. – In front of a large crowd for the Alumni Game and the final home game of the season, junior Patrick O'Gorman joined the 1,000-point scoring club and the Pratt Institute men's basketball team honored seniors Aaron Nisbett and Julian Stoll, but the Cannoneers dropped a hard-fought battle against the Newport News Apprentice School, 67-56, on Saturday afternoon at the Activity Resource Center.
O'Gorman led the charge with 14 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Nisbett had 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds and three blocks.
Cameron Hatcher and Ace Bibbs also played pivotal roles in the game. Hatcher scoring eight points and grabbing a game-high ten rebounds. Bibbs flirted with a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Needing just two points to reach the milestone, O'Gorman drained a trifecta less than two minutes in and became the first Cannoneer since Andrew Yaglenski in 2018 to reach the mark.
Shortly after O'Gorman's triple, the Cannoneers used a 12-0 run capped by a Bibbs that opened a 17-6 advantage, but the Builders responded with a 29-3 to build a 13-point lead, 35-22. Pratt hung tough and closed out the half with eight unanswered to shrink the deficit to five, 35-30. Nisbett helped power the strong end of to the half and finished with a team-high eight, on 66 percent (4-of-6) shooting from the field.
The gold-and-black remained within reach in the second and pulled even at 42-all with 12:13 to play, before the visitors pulled away with a 19-3 run for a 61-45 lead that was too large to overcome with four minutes remaining.
Apprentice's (18-7) Shawn Eley led all scorers with 15 points and eight rebounds. Adrion Wall had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals - leading the visiting squad off the bench.
The Cannoneers travel to the west coast for a playoff run at the 2023 Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship beginning on Thursday, February 23 at UC Santa Cruz. Pratt's quarterfinal matchup will be announced on Monday.
