Pride drop opener 72-62 to William Woods

FULTON, Mo. - Beginning the 2021-22 regular season on the road, the Clarke University men's basketball team droped a 72-62 final to William Woods University on Tuesday night.

The Pride and Owls went back and forth for a majority of the game as late as the six-minute mark in the second half as WWU finished the game on a 15-3 run to eventually win by that 72-62 final.

The leading scorer for CU was Jacob Fierst as the junior transfer from Morningside College scored a team-high 19 points while grabbing nine rebounds in his Clarke debut. Fierst led the team in shots taken, going 7-for-16 (43.8%) from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range. 

Jordan Lake and Chandler Dean both added double figures for 17 and 12 points respectively as Lake added seven assists and two rebounds with Dean added five rebounds and three assists also in his debut after transferring in from Chadron State College.

For the Owls, Nathan Schwartze scored a game-high 20 points while shooting 4-of-6 from three-point range and 8-of-15 from the field. Makenzie Fessler and Jared Crutcher also added 15 and 12 points for William Woods respectively as their secondary scoring threats on the night.

Clarke men's basketball will have a good amount of time off before they get back on the court, with their next game coming on Nov. 5 when they head to Salina, Kan. for a pair of games starting with a neutral site matchup with Bethany College at 4:00 p.m. CT.