BROOKLYN, N.Y. – First-year Cameron Windt drained a spinning 22-foot jumper with no time remaining to lift the Pratt Institute men's basketball team to a 54-53 triumph over the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Wednesday evening at the Pratt ARC.
Windt's heroics leads Pratt (7-8) to their first win of 2024 and snaps a three-game skid. The Cannoneers improve to 6-2 from the comforts of home with three victories decided by buckets in the waning seconds of regulation or overtime.
Senior Patrick O'Gorman registered a points-assists double-double with 16 and 11 to lead all scorers and flirted with a triple-double with a team-high eight rebounds. Classmate Ace Bibbs chipped in 13 points and six rebounds and Windt's game-winning bucket made him the third Cannoneer to score in double figures with 10. Thomas Van Trier chipped in enine points, seven rebounds and two assists in a solid effort.
Pratt trailed 53-52 with 2.7 seconds remaining. Windt received the inbounds pass from 30 feet out straightaway near mid-court, taking two dribbles left, spinning back right and launching a long fadeaway three pointer that found the bottom of the net as time expired.
USMMA led by as many as nine at the midway point of the second stanza, 47-38, before Pratt scored 14 unanswered over the next eight minutes to take a 52-47 lead with just under two minutes to play. The Mariners regained the lead with back-to-back three-pointers, moving ahead at with 6.3 seconds remaining. Pratt dribbled to the frontcourt and took timeout with 2.3 ticks left to set up the game-winning play for Windt.
The Mariners were led by Isaac Vencel's 11 points and seven rebounds. Drew Zalescik and Bryce Brystow added 10 points each. USMMA held the lead for 24 minutes and led by as many a 10 points in the first half in the contest that saw eight lead changes and four ties.
Pratt shot 41 percent on their home floor (23-of-56) while holding USMMA to just 29 percent shooting (19-of-65).
The Cannoneers travel to Albany, N.Y. to face Russell Sage Colleges in a MLK Day matchup on Monday, January 15th starting at 2 p.m.
