Pride cruise to 21-point win at Iowa Wesleyan

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa - In their last of four-straight games away from home to begin the 2021-22 season, the Clarke University men's basketball team earned a big 87-66 win over Iowa Wesleyan University on Wednesday night.

The Pride used a 37-20 first half advantage to cruise to their 21-point win after a high scoring second 20 minutes from both teams as CU outscored the Tigers 50-46 in the second half.

Clarke also had advantages in every major team stat category including all three shooting percentages (field goals, three-point, and free throws), turnovers, rebounding and bench points. One of the biggest glaring advantages the Pride had in the game was points in the paint as they outscored IWU 42-24 around the rim.

There was a big boost in team shooting percentage for CU after an off shooting performance last Saturday, the Pride shot 35-of-67 (52.2%) from the field and 8-of-21 (38.1%) from three-point range. Three of the eight three-pointers came out of the hands of Anthony Eddy as he went 3-for-5 from deep in the game and scored 10 of the team's 37 first-half points to end up finishing with 15 points in the game.

The trio of Jacob Fierst, Keith Johnson, and Chandler Dean all scored 16 points to tie for the team-high in the game as Fierst added 12 rebounds for a double-double, Dean added seven rebounds, and Johnson grabbed three boards.

For Iowa Wesleyan, Joey Brown and Jett Tjaden both tied for the game-high of 18 points but no other player for the Tigers had more than seven points in the game as they shot 42.1 percent from the field in the game.

Clarke men's basketball will move forward to their first home games of the season at the Kehl Center when they host McPherson College on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT then their Saturday opponent and time will be determined by the results of Friday's game.