Fierst goes off in Pride's 88-81 win over Iowa Wesleyan
DUBUQUE, Iowa - In their final home game of the 2021-22 season, the Clarke University men's basketball team sent the fans and their seniors off with a win with an 88-81 final score over Iowa Wesleyan University.
The Pride were led by a career-high 39 points for Jacob Fierst for his second-straight career-high scoring performance in as many games after scoring 30 on Friday against Culver-Stockton. Fierst's 39 points ties him for sixth place on the Clarke single game scoring list as he ties Keith Sanders who scored 39 for Clarke in 1988.
Fierst led a rebounding effort from the Pride that saw them outrebound the Tigers 40-29 for the game as Fierst finished with 12 for the double-double, Biggie Luster finished with nine, and Keith Johnson added six boards. Luster's nine rebounds put him just a rebound away from a double-double of his own as he scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from three point range.
Johnson added 17 points in his final home game as a member of the Pride as fellow seniors Xavier Johnson, Gabe Shields, and Jordan Lake were in the starting lineup for their final game in the Kehl Center. Xavier Johnson and Shields both grabbed a rebound for CU as Lake scored six points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out seven assists as the CU all-time leading assist man will continue to add on to his record.
A win in the home finale wasn't all that certain in the first half as Clarke trailed by as many as 14 points during the early stages only to rally back and eventually grab a lead by the halftime break at 46-44.
The first half lead for Iowa Wesleyan was powered by the three-point shooting of Marvin Bateman as he went 6-of-7 from deep in the first half for 18 points but only took two and made one shot in the second half to finish with 21 points. The second half for the Tigers belonged to Joey Brown as he scored 17 of his 26 for the game in the second half as he kept Iowa Wesleyan in the game.
Clarke men's basketball will end up finishing off their 2021-22 season with two more games inside the Heart of America Athletics Conference when they face No. 1 William Penn on Wednesday and Baker on Saturday, both games coming on the road.