NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Patrick O'Gorman scored a game-high 26 to lead four Cannoneers in double figures and the Pratt Institute men's basketball team erased a double-digit second-half deficit before falling in the final seconds to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 87-86, on Saturday afternoon.
O'Gorman finished with a season-high and led all scorers on the strength of 10-of-19 shooting to go along with eight assists and three steals. Cameron Windt added 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with three triples, three rebounds and two assists. Jaden Young chipped in 14 points with five boards and shot 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Thomas Van Trier rounded out the quartet in double-figure scoring with a season-high 13 points and six caroms. Efe Tuydes and Mekhi Davis added six points each.
Pratt (7-10) trailed 42-34 at the intermission and by as many as 11, 68-57, with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The Cannoneers whittled away at the deficit, drawing even at 81-all on a Windt jumper nearing the final minute of regulation. MCLA (9-8) held a three-point lead with 21 ticks remaining before O'Gorman drained a beyond-NBA-range trifecta to equalize the game again at 86-all with 12.1 remaining.
With the Trailblazers holding for the last shot, Quentin Gittens was able to draw a Cannoneer defender in the air and manufactured a shooting foul with 1.4 seconds left. Gittens would miss the first but made the second from the stripe that would hold up for the difference as the black-and-gold could only muster a desperation shot from the backcourt at the buzzer.
JoJo Carcia paced the Trailblazers with 19 points and Craig Williams followed with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gittens finished with 10 points and five boards.
Pratt outshot the MCLA on their home floor connecting on nearly half their attempts at 49 percent (31-of-63) while the hosts finished at 44 percent (30-of-69) but took advantage of a 14-7 edge in offensive rebounds to double up the Cannoneers in second-chance scoring, 21-10.
Pratt returns to their home floor at the ARC – where they boast a 6-2 mark – on Tuesday, January 23 to host Cairn University for a 7 p.m. showdown.
