Early second half run pushes Eagles over Pride

Early second half run pushes Eagles over Pride
Box Score
December 13, 2025

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Hosting their final game of the 2025 calendar year, the Clarke University men's basketball team fell to Central Methodist University in a 97-80 final score at the Kehl Center on Saturday afternoon.

The first half saw the Eagles gain an early advantage, but never more than eight points prior to their final make of the half as the opening 20 minutes saw two ties and five lead changes with both teams shooting over 40 percent in the half but the scoring difference coming from CMU hitting three more three pointers in the half than CU.

Those were the only ties and lead changes in the game as Central Methodist would open up the second half on a 14-3 run to go from a 42-33 halftime lead to a 20-point lead at 56-36 in just over five minutes as that run would end up fully extending to a 26-5 to lead by 30 at 68-38 after a Raphael Gay steal and breakaway dunk with just about 12 minutes left to go in the game.

Gay finished with a team-high 28 points while adding 12 rebounds for the double-double as he went 10-for-15 (66.7%) from the field and 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the free throw line with an assist, a steal, and a blocked shot.

The Pride also had a double-double of their own from DeMarco Clayton as the senior produced 29 points and 10 rebounds with two assists to lead all scorers in the game with the other double digit scorers for CU were the 11 points off the bench from Ivan Vukusic and 10 points from Lovre Stanovic while Desmond Jones finished with nine points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal, while Carson Lindauer, Devon Junghans, and Jonovan Howard all added five points.

Both teams shot over 44 percent from the field and 80 percent or better from the free throw line but CMU hit two more three pointers and took better care of the ball only committing eight turnovers to Clarke's 17 where the Eagles would score 23 points off of those 17 turnovers.

Clarke men's basketball will close out the 2025 portion of their schedule with an exhibition game tomorrow when they play at Upper Iowa University for a 12:00 p.m. CT scheduled tip in Fayette, Iowa before they full head off on their Christmas break, to continue regular season play on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Baker University.