FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Four Cannoneers scored in double figures and the No. 5-seeded Pratt Institute men's basketball team shrank a 16-point deficit down to four in the final minute before suffering a 67-58 defeat to No. 4-seeded University of California, Santa Cruz in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday evening at the University of Mary Washington.
Cameron Windt led Pratt with 13 points while pulling down three rebounds. Thomas Van Trier added 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists in his final collegiate game. Patrick O'Gorman added 10 points to finish his collegiate career with 1,416 points and secured a team-high eight caroms with three assists. Jaden Young rounded the four in double-figures with 10 points and three rebounds.
The Cannoneers scored the first four points of the contest before the Banana Slugs scored 10 straight but couldn't pull away. It remained a one-possession game for most of the first half and the lead exchanged hands four more times with UCSC closing out the half on a 16-4 run, scoring the final eight points, to take a 35-24 lead into the lockers.
The Banana Slugs extended their run to 13 with two quick buckets to open second stanza and they maintained a double-digit separation for nearly 10 minutes. But the black-and-gold later used a 7-0 spurt capped off by back-to-back baskets from Van Trier to shrink the deficit to four, 51-47, with 6:42 to play.
UCSC re-extended their lead to double-digits again responding with eight unanswered before the Cannoneers made one final push with a 10-3 spurt and two baskets from Windt pulled Pratt within four, 62-58, with one minute to play. But the comeback bid would come up short as the Slugs pulled away from the free throw line to advance to the semifinals.
Santa Cruz was led by Treyson Keating's 15-point, 15-rebound double-double. Caden Breznikar added 10 points.
The nine-point loss was the smallest margin of defeat in their third and final trip to the C2C Championship. Pratt concludes their season with a 8-17 record and looks toward to commencing play as full members of the Atlantic East Conference beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
