Pride come up short in tight Heart opener at Missouri Baptist

Pride come up short in tight Heart opener at Missouri Baptist
Box Score
November 15, 2025

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Playing their first conference game of 2025-26 against a brand new Heart of America Athletic Conference foe, the Clarke University men's basketball team fell by an 82-74 final score on the road to Missouri Baptist University on Saturday afternoon.

A game that was much closer than the final score would lead the public to believe, the 40-minute game saw seven lead changes and 10 ties throughout as the score was tied at 74-74 with just about 90 second remaining as the Pride would seemingly lose offensive momentum, missing their final six shots from the field and committing two costly turnovers in the final two minutes that led to four of MBU's 21 points off turnovers in the game.

The points off turnovers and free throw shooting was able to balance out the scoring output for Missouri Baptist as CU had a significant advantage from beyond the arc, going 11-for-25 (44%) compared to just a 3-for-23 (13%) day for the home team but a 17-for-23 (73.9%) day from the free throw line compared to just 9-for-15 (60%) by the Pride helped the Spartans make up that difference.

Early in the game, MBU was able to come out hot to produce either team's largest lead of the game at an 11-0 beginning to the game over the first 4:31 before Bryce Luster hit a three points for Clarke's first points of the game at the 15:22 mark as the Pride would have the game tied at 18-18 by before the under 10 media timeout.

Luster would have his best game as a member of the Pride on Saturday, scoring a career-high 17 points off the bench on 6-of-10 (60%) shooting from the field that included a 5-for-9 (55.6%) performance from three point range while adding another career-high of seven rebounds in 21 minutes.

The game's leading scorer was MBU's Merquiche Lewis as he shot 9-for-10 (90%) from the field while adding six rebounds as he was supported by a pair of 14-point performances by Javaris Moye and Preston Fortner.

DeMarco Clayton led Clarke in scoring with 19 points while adding six rebounds, six assists, and a steal while Sunny Parker played his second-straight game off the bench after returning from injury to score 14 points and grab four rebounds.

Pride men's basketball will host their first Heart game on Wednesday evening when they welcome Grand View University to the Kehl Center on Nov. 19 with a 7:30 p.m. CT scheduled tip.