Pride fall in tightly contested 80-77 final at Grand View
DES MOINES, Iowa - About a month following a three-point home win over Grand View, the Clarke University men's basketball team had their fortunes reversed as the Vikings pull off an 80-77 win over the Pride in Des Moines, Iowa on Wendesday night.
Clarke suffered a one-possession defeat for the fourth time this season in Heart of America Athletic Conference play as Wednesday's loss was their ninth one-possession game of the season with five wins in narrow fashion as well.
The Pride had two opportunities to tie the game down by three in the final moments as Jordan Lake tried to take the quick basket at the rim that missed the target but the front end miss of a one-and-one by Isaiah Johnson gave CU another crack to tie it with a three pointers but defense closed off Clarke's top three point option in Keith Johnson that forced Lake to spin away from the defense and take a tough shot that came up short to end the game at 80-77.
Keith Johnson finished with a game-high 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field while knocking down six of his 11 attempted three point shots while adding four rebounds on the night for the Pride. Jacob Fierst finished with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double as he went 6-of-12 from the field and added a three point make on his two attempts as he also dished out four assists in the game.
Chandler Dean and Anthony Eddy had solid performances in support of CU's top two scorers as Eddy scored 12 points off the bench while grabbing four rebounds and adding three assists with Dean a point away from his own double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Grand View had four of their five starters in double figures led by the 18 points from Dallas Bailey as he went 6-of-11 from the field while grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double on his night. Ryan Miller (17), Isaiah Johnson (14), and Jackson Golightly (13) all scored in double figures for the Vikings as Golightly also had a double-double with 10 rebounds.
The Vikings were able to battle back from being down 13 points at halftime as the Pride held a 44-31 lead at the break as the lead got slowly trimmed down to an eventual 60-58 lead for Grand View at the 8:08 mark in the second half.
Clarke men's basketball will return home for a matchup with Park University this Saturday at the Kehl Center with a 2:00 p.m. scheduled tip following Senior Day ceremonies for both the Pride men's and women's basketball teams.