No. 22 Graceland pulls away early in Pride's 88-65 home loss
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Getting back on their home court for game action for the first time in nearly a month, the Clarke University men's basketball team were unable to pull off an upset of No. 22 Graceland University on Wednesday night in an 88-65 loss at the Kehl Center.
A strong first half from the Yellowjackets got the visitors up as many as 28 points in the opening 20 minutes behind an 18-for-34 (52.9%) shooting performance in the half with eight of those 18 makes from the field coming from three point range while CU shot 9-for-30 (30%) from the field with only two makes from deep.
Graceland gained their lead behind a few sustained runs in the opening frame as they went on a 12-0 run after a Devon Junghans three made it 12-7, GU answered to pull ahead 24-7 then about three minutes later, they would start a 10-0 run to go from up 32-14 to 42-14 for that 28-point lead with just over five minutes left in the half.
The Pride would finish the half down 19 at 48-29 and played a better second half to only a 40-36 deficit, but the Yellowjackets would still hold the shooting advantage from the field (45.2%-36.1%) and from three point range (40%-28.6%) as GU also cleaned up in the paint to a 36-20 advantage in paint scoring over the entirety of the game.
None of the members of the Graceland lineup scored over 13 points but they had six players finished in double figures with both Carson Busch and Micah Lamberth producing 13 points while Deundra Roberson and Josh Sanderson had 12 points, then the bench tandem of Trey Summers and Emarion Ellis both had 11 points with Summer having a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double.
For Clarke, Desmond Jones led the game in scoring with 15 points on 6-of-8 (75%) shooting from the field while adding nine rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 22 minutes with both Nick Bryant and Jackson Graham hitting a pair of three pointers to help both finish with eight points, also off the bench on Wednesday.
Pride men's basketball's next game will be back on their home floor this Saturday, Jan. 10 for a 2:00 p.m. CT scheduled Heart matchup against Benedictine College.