Comeback Falls Short to End Men's BB Season

You could hardly script a more tense finish to a game than Pratt’s near comeback in the first round of the Jayhawk Tournament on Tuesday at Cowley.  In what was for the most part a one to four point game for the duration, Pratt had an excellent chance to win the game in the last seven seconds, but that shot wouldn’t fall, sending the Beavers home with a 69-70 loss.  Pratt ended the season 7-9 and 18-13.
 
Looking at the first half stats, one would think the Beavers were running away with it, though they only led by two, 35-33.  Pratt shot 46 percent from the field to Cowley’s 36 percent.  Pratt hit 57% of three pointers to Cowley’s 30%.  And Pratt’s free throw woes (57%) were more than matched by Cowley’s 20%.  But Pratt was outrebounded 23 to 17 and had 13 turnovers to Cowley’s 7.
 
Pratt would grab only twelve more rebounds in the second half, while Cowley would pick up twice that many at 24.  That disparity altered the game, as Cowley continued to shoot poorly, especially at the line where they hit only 38 percent for the game.
 
But all the stats were meaningless in the last minute of play, when Trae Beck almost singlehandedly kept the Beavers’ season alive.
 
Trailing 63-66 with under a minute left, Beck drained a three to tie it up.  Cowley missed their opportunity, then Pratt missed a lay-up, and Cowley responded with a traditional three point play.  Their lead was again three at 69-66.
 
Monty Gordon then had his shot blocked, and Pratt was forced to foul.  On this night, you couldn’t pick a better team to send to the line.  Cowley made only one to make it 70-66 with 12.7 seconds left.
 
Beck bolted down the court and was fouled in his three point attempt.  He made them all.  There remained only 7.6 seconds, but Cowley threw it away on the inbounds attempt.  Pratt now had the ball under their own basket with the same time on the clock.  The ball went again to Beck, but he couldn’t complete the miracle finish.  Cowley rebounded Beck’s miss, and that ended the Beavers’ hopes for a return to Wichita.
 
No other stats were available at the time of this posting.