Pride end Thanksgiving break with non-conference loss to Midland
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Following a 23-hour postponement due to the first major snowfall of the 2025-26 school year, the Clarke University men's basketball team dropped their final non-conference games of the season in a 96-83 final to Midland University.
The Warriors came out on fire, jumping out to an gut-punching 17-0 lead over the first 4:18 of the game where they hit their first seven shots from the field, including three makes from three point range and a run-sealing steal and dunk from Jake Orr before a foul put CU at the line to get their first points of the game.
Midland's full extent of their strong start extended to a 24-6 lead over the first 6:38 following an Anthony Simon three pointer, but the Pride would start chipping away at that 18-point lead to finish the half outscoring Midland 36-24 to enter the halftime break at 48-42.
Over half of the Clarke scoring output came from a 22-point half from senior DeMarco Clayton as he would combine to produce 18 of those 22 points from either three point range or the free throw line, going a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe and 3-for-4 (75%) from deep with two other two point baskets, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the opening 20 minutes that he played all of.
MU also got a 20-point half in the first from Butch Lordeus as he poured in 23 of his team-high 28 points in the first half as he would go 8-for-9 (88.9%) from the field and 5-for-6 (83.3%) from deep in the first half before adding one two pointer and a three pointer in the second half to lead the way for the Warriors.
Clayton finished with a game-high 29 points but struggle a bit from the field at a final 7-for-20 (35%) shooting performance as both he and Lordeus had a support performance of a 20-plus-point double-double as Nick Dolezal had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Midland and sophomore Desmond Jones had a career-high 22 points and also a career-high 10 rebounds for his first-career double-double.
Despite being able to get the game within two points in the first half and three points in the second half with 15:42 remaining, the Pride would go a little cold near the middle third of the second where the game would go from a 65-61 Warriors lead to 79-67 over about a five-minute stretch push their lead back to double digits.
The Midland efficiency from the field made the most difference despite Clarke hitting nine more free throws than the visitors (21-12), as the Warriors shot 35-for-64 (54.7%) overall from the floor with a 14-for-28 (50%) performance from three adding to their advantage compared to CU shooting 27-for-63 (42.9%) and 8-for-26 (30.8%) from the field and three respectively.
Pride men's basketball will get back to Heart of America Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, Dec. 3 when they travel to Lamoni, Iowa to take on Graceland University for a 7:30 p.m. CT scheduled tip against the Yellowjackets.