Men's Basketball Win Against Pratt

Men's Basketball Win Against Pratt

Northwest Tech Men's Basketball secured their third consecutive victory on Wednesday, beating the Pratt Community College Beavers, 82-73.

The game started fast-paced, with tough defense from both sides. The Mavericks got out to an early lead, 11-4, in the first five minutes. Pratt would then work their way back with an 8-3 run to put them within two near the 10-minute mark. The game would continue to be back and forth as the Mavs maintained a steady lead, extending it out to twelve points, capitalizing off of turnovers, and getting quick buckets in transition. Tech would lead 42-33 at the half. 

The second half continued to be back-and-forth, as Pratt finally managed to close in, trailing by five points near the 5-minute mark. After some more back-and-forth, the Beavers inched their way to within three points with a little more than a minute left. Then, with less than a minute left, Keyishon Miller was able to get an and-one layup to send him to the free-throw line, putting the Mavericks ahead by six. Pratt then proceeded to make a layup of their own before calling a timeout with 23 seconds left on the clock. Northwest Tech was then able to beat the Beavers' press as Keyishon Miller drew another foul with 18 seconds left. Pratt would proceed to worsen their case when one of their players received a technical foul during the free throws and then received one more as Taiden Conner helped put the game away, hitting all but one of his free throws.

Overall, the difference in the game for the Mavericks was their free-throw shooting, as they made 81% on 21 attempts. Tech also made 44% of their three-pointers, compared to just 10% from Pratt. 

The Mavericks' next game will be on Saturday at Cloud County Community College.