Release courtesy of Pratt Athletics
BROOKLYN – Pratt Institute men's basketball opened the 2016-17 season by sinking 17 3-point baskets en route to 104-48 victory over Culinary Institute of America in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Activities Resource Center Saturday afternoon. The victory was Pratt's fifth straight in season openers.
The 104 points scored by the Cannoneers marked the highest single-game output for the team since Nov. 16, 2015, when Pratt tallied 84 points in an 84-36 victory over Webb Institute.
Junior Andrew Yaglenski led five Cannoneers in double figures, scoring 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Sophomore Bubby Vernon (Boulder, CO/Santa Barbara) also sank six 3-pointers, including four over a 5:14 stretch in the first half that saw Pratt score 21 unanswered points to break the game open.
"Shooting with confidence is something that we've really worked on in practice," commented head coach Johnny Lee. "Being able to create those open shots and finding the holes in Culinary's zone defense really helped and our guys came through by shooting the ball with confidence."
Senior Ari Grant (Denver, CO/Jewish Country Day School) filled the box score with 19 points, 20 rebounds, seven steals, four blocks and three assists in his first game action in over a year. The forward led all players in rebounds, blocks and steals. Freshman Vishal Vanka (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) matched Grant's 19 points and added 14 assists and five boards in his Pratt debut.
"Vishal had a great game," Lee said. "We have one of the leading three-point shooters in the league in Andrew Yaglenski and he needs to get shots and Vishal has the ability to create off the dribble and really draw help and he did a good job today of getting Andrew open shots and Andrew knocked them down."
The Cannoneers shot a blistering 46% from the field (40-of-87) and 44.7% (17-of-38) from behind the arc in snapping a four-game losing streak to Culinary Institute. Pratt also dished out 31 assists on 40 baskets and forced 27 Culinary turnovers, which lead to 23 points.
"Having an anchor like Ari Grant ensures that you'll have a great effort on the backboard," Lee added. "We were able to rebound well today, which allowed us to get out into transition."
Vincent Dunbar recorded 10 points and five rebounds off the bench to lead Culinary.
On the strength of its 21-0 run, Pratt went into the break leading the Steels 53-22. Vernon led all scorers with 15 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. Grant nearly posted a double-double in the first half with eight points and 11 rebounds to go along with five steals, while freshman Akil Phillip (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) added five points and five rebounds.
Pratt's first-half momentum carried over into the second period. The Cannoneers outscored Culinary, 51-26 in the second half, fueled by a 21-4 run over the period's first 6:00. Grant contributed seven points to Pratt's scoring efforts during the run and junior Adam Blufarb (Tel Aviv, Israel/Thelma Yellin) added four points and three rebounds to help spark the Cannoneers. Blufarb ended the afternoon with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Grant brought the crowd to its feet after forcing a steal in the backcourt and taking it coast-to-coast for a thundering dunk at the other end of the floor.
Up Next: The Cannoneers welcome The New School to the ARC for a non-conference matchup on Nov. 17. The teams split their two 2015-16 matchups with Pratt downing the Narwhals, 69-58 on Nov. 6 and the New School defeating Pratt, 86-55 on Feb. 2.
