MBB Falls in a Heartbreaker to Independence- Cameron Cox

[Independence, KS-Nov 29th, 2025] - Men's Basketball was on the road against Independence for an early season conference game. The Beavers would play in an ultra competitive conference matchup where they would lead for all but three minutes of gametime. The Beavers fought hard in the final minutes on saturday night but would lose 81-80. 

Game Recap: 

Pratt (3-6) (0-4) started off the first half with an early lead jumping out to a 6-0 lead after Galvin Luketa nailed two threes early. The Beavers would cruise for the first 5 minutes of the half leading 10-2 over Indy (5-4) (3-1). The Pirates would then control the following possessions to narrow the gap to just two points. The next four minutes however the Beavers would build their lead back up to 11 points. Pratt was fueled by Kele Kane on this run and led 27-14 with 6 minutes remaining in the 1st half. 

The Pirates responded by going on a run of their own, narrowing the Beaver lead to just two again. With 3 minutes remaining in the first half the Beavers were up 29-27. Pratt would control the tempo and pace for the following three minutes going on a 12-3 run and cruising into halftime with a 41-32 lead. 

At Halftime the Beavers were shooting 11-32 (34.4%) from the field. Despite poor shooting by the Beaver offense, the Beaver defense forced Indy to shoot 9-25 (36%) from the field and 1-5 (20%) from the three. The Beavers also led the turnover battle going into the break committing just 3 of their own whilst forcing Indy to commit 8 turnovers. Pratt never trailed for a single second of the first half and were led in scoring by Luketa with 9 points on 3-5 shooting. 

The Second half began by both teams battling with neither team separating. After 4 minutes had gone by the Beavers still led by 10 points 46-36. Muna Goodswill hit a layup assisted by Hunter Vaughn that would spark a mini second half Beaver run. Kane and Luketa would each hit three's to give 17 point 56-39 lead. The Pirates would not back down despite trailing by nearly 20 points with 13 minutes left to play. Indy would have an explosive 13-3 run over the next three minutes which would bring the game back to single digits. At the 10 minute mark in the second half the Beavers still led the Pirates 59-52. 

Seydina Faye converted on two layups which extended the Beaver lead to 11 points with under 10 minutes to play. Both teams would battle over the next four minutes with neither separating themselves too closely. Pratt still held on to a 8 point lead with 6:30 to play. Indy would slowly chip away at the Pratt lead and the score sat at 71-67 with four minutes to play. Then the Pirates converted on a layup and made it a one score game. A 17 point second half lead had been slowly eroded and now the Pirates were down by just two. Then with 3:13 on the clock the Pirates converted a and-one layup and converted the free throw. This gave Indy the lead for the first time in the game 72-71 with 3:13 left to play. 

Pratt would miss a shot on the following possession leading to a Pirate three-pointer on the other end. With 2 minutes remaining the Beavers trailed 71-75. Then Izeyah Harris makes an incredible defensive play by blocking a shot, however the blocked shot is recovered by the Pirates who convert a layup. The Pirates now lead 77-71 over the Beavers and have all of the momentum. Indy was on a 18-3 run over the last 5 minutes of gametime and what looked like a surefire Beaver victory now looks like a difficult loss. After the Beavers hit a pair of free throws following a technical, the Pirates answered right back with a score of their own. The Pirates would lead the Beavers 79-73 giving them a 6 point lead with 75 seconds left of gametime.

Pratt refused to give up on this game, battling to the last second. Luketa was fouled going up for a layup and went 2-2 at the line. The Beavers got a stop on the defensive end and turned it into fastbreak points for Justin Robinson. With just 31 seconds of gametime the Beavers were within two points trailing 77-79. A costly over and back turnover for Indy gives Pratt possession with 25 seconds remaining trailing by two. Vaughn attacks quickly off the inbound and gets fouled with 16 seconds remaining. Hunter would sink his first shot at the line making the score 78-79. The second free throw attempt takes a long roll around the rim and pops out into Izeyah Harris's hands who slams down the putback dunk. Pratt had miraculously taken the lead back with 16 seconds left in the game leading 80-79. 

Indy has possession with the shot clock turned off down by one. A stop on this possession ensures a Pratt win but any bucket would almost certainly give the win to the Pirates. Indy gets the ball over halfcourt and calls a timeout with 10.7 left on the clock. After the timeout Indy inbounds the ball at the top of the key Faye nearly gets the steal which causes him to overcommit and the ballhandler gets past him into the lane. Indy puts the shot up into the hands of Harris who is a brick wall and the shot completely misses the rim. However Indy gets an offensive rebound under the basket and throws up a putback that converts with 0.1 seconds on the clock. Indy had essentially hit a buzzer beater to defeat Pratt in a tough early conference game. The Pirates got the better of the Beavers in this one 81-80 is the final score from Independence. 

Player Notes:

Galvin Luketa shot an impressive 60% from the field and led the Beavers in scoring with 20 points. 

Seydina Faye recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.