BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Pratt Insitute men's basketball team got off to a quick start in their first game of the 2024-25 season but fell 59-52 to their Clinton Hill neighbors St. Joseph's University-Brooklyn on Friday night.
Justin Caver paced the Cannoneers (0-1) with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting with six boards and two assists. Cameron Windt joined him in double figures with 10 points, draining a pair of triples.
Mekhi Davis, Ace Bibbs, and Seth Bratcher each chipped in six points, with Davis also pulling down seven boards and handing out four assists and Bratcher grabbing six boards off the bench.
Pratt shot 4-of-5 to open the contest and raced out to a 9-0 lead prompting an early St. Joseph's (1-0) timeout. The Cannoneers remained ahead but couldn't push the lead to double digits. Some costly turnovers allowed the Bears to gain momentum and a 14-2 run gave St. Joseph's their first lead with three minutes before intermission and they took a 26-23 lead into the lockers.
The black-and-gold scored the first four points of the second stanza for a brief lead before the Bears responded with an 8-2 run for a five-point, 34-29 lead. A three-pointer from Lucas Zamboni capped a 5-0 spurt to tie the game at 34-all but Pratt couldn't regain the lead again. A 14-5 Bears run later in the half built the first double-digit advantage with 4:46 to play. A Windt jumper with one minute left pull the Cannoneers withing five, but they couldn't pull any closer.
Pratt outshot St. Joseph's on their home floor 44.2 to 35.4 percent but were plagued by a 21-14 turnover differential that led to a 31-14 scoring disadvantage and 13 more Bear field goal attempts.
The Cannoneers travel to another local Brooklyn foe heading to Division I Long Island University tomorrow for a noon tipoff.
