Men’s Basketball Hold on for 87-86 Win Over Pratt Institute

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team welcomed Pratt Institute to the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium for the first-ever matchup between the two teams. Craig Williams came off the bench for the Trailblazers and finished with 18 points in 34 minutes after MCLA's leading scorer found himself in early foul trouble. Williams helped provide the Trailblazers with a 36-14 edge in bench scoring in the one-point game.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, January 20, 2024
• Score: Pratt 86, MCLA 87
• Records: Pratt Institute Cannoneers 7-10 (Conference N/A) | MCLA Trailblazers 9-8 (MASCAC 3-2)

HIGHLIGHTS

• The teams traded blows early, with neither team being able to pull too far away from the other. While the Cannoneers' largest lead was three points only 26 seconds into the game, they were never too far behind the hosts. The Trailblazers' largest first-half lead came with just over a minute remaining when they got as far as eight points ahead of the visitors. The first half featured five lead changes and two ties before MCLA took a 42-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
• Pratt came out of the locker room hot, cutting the Trailblazer's lead in half with 16:41 left on the second half clock and forcing MCLA to use a timeout.
• Following the timeout, MCLA started a 14-8 run, with a pair of threes from Hayden Morris-Gray and JoJo Garcia, and was capped by an "and one" layup from Craig Williams. Williams cashed in the free throw to go up 63-53, enticing Pratt to use a timeout to stem the flow with 13:18 on the clock.
• Another three by Morris-Gray, with 9:42 to go, forced the lead to 11 points at 68-57.
• Pratt slowly chipped away at the Trailblazers' lead, working their way back to a tie at 81-81 after Cameron Windt sank a jumper with 1:05 on the clock. Williams responded for MCLA with a long-distance shot with 44 seconds left in regulation.
• After a pair of made free throws by the Cannoneers' Patrick O'Gorman with 25 seconds, the visitors were forced to foul and make the Trailblazers earn their points at the charity stripe. Quentin Gittens was up to the challenge and made both go up by three points at 86-83.
• Undeterred, O'Gorman hit a long three from the top of the key with 12 seconds left, tying the game for the fifth time.
• With the game on the line for MCLA, the senior Gittens took the inbounds up the court and attempted to make room for his shot, getting the Pratt defender to leave his feet and make contact with Gittens with 1.4 seconds on the clock. Gittens made the second free throw go up 86-87. A final hail Mary shot from the Cannoneers was wide to seal the game for MCLA.
• Garcia led the Trailblazers with 19 points on a 7-14 performance from the field that included a 4-9 effort from beyond the arc.
• Williams scored 18 points in 34 minutes off the bench while tying with Morris-Gray and Gittens with a team-high four assists.
• Despite some early foul troubles, Gittens made eight of ten free throws to continue his streak of double-digit point games with 10, extending his run to seven games and nine of his last 11.
• O'Gorman led all scorers with 26 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. Windt, Jaden Young, and Thomas Van Trier also reached double figures for the Cannoneers, finishing with 17, 14, and 13 points, respectively.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: Pratt 31-63 / 49.2%, MCLA 30-69 / 43.5%
• 3 Points / %: Pratt 8-17 / 47.1%, MCLA 12-40 / 30%
• Free Throw / %: Pratt 16-18 / 88.9%, MCLA 15-18 / 83.3%
• Rebounds: Pratt 32, MCLA 38
• Points off Turnovers: Pratt 9, MCLA 14
• Second Chance Points: Pratt 10, MCLA 21
• Points in the Paint: Pratt 42, MCLA 32
• Bench Points: Pratt 14, MCLA 36

UP NEXT:

On Wednesday, MCLA will be back in action when they travel to Worcester State for a MASCAC matchup with the Lancers at the WSU Wellness Center. The teams will take the floor for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

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