Pride make it a game late but fall just short in road loss to William Penn

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - A heated rivalry within the Heart of America Athletic Conference that has produced plenty of exciting finishes saw another tight game late between the Clarke University men's basketball team and William Penn University where the Statesmen came out on top 80-73 on Saturday afternoon.

The Pride headed into the locker room down 17 points at a 42-25 lead for the home team after 20 minutes after taking what was a 24-22 game with seven minutes left in the half and finished the frame on an 18-3 run.

The Statesmen also scored the first eight points of the second half to extend that 18-3 run even more to 26-3, giving WPU their largest lead of the game at 25 points, doubling up Clarke's 25 points to a 50-25 lead with just under 17 minutes left in the game.

From that moment, the Pride would start their furious comeback to pull within a point behind their own 22-3 run to make it 53-52 in about eight minutes of game time where the game would remain within reach heading to the final minute of the game as a Carson Lindauer three pointer and pair of free throws kept the game at a three-point margin at 73-70 but William Penn hit the necessary free throws to stay ahead by at least two possessions and close out the win at 80-73.

Both teams had three starters finish with a point total in double digits as CU had a pair of 20-point scorers with Lovre Stanovic leading the way with 21 on 7-of-16 (43.8%) shooting from the field that included a 4-for-11 (36.3%) day from three point range while Desmond Jones continued the best offensive stretch of his young collegiate career, scoring 20 points for his fifth-straight double digit scoring output and sixth such game in his last seven.

Lindauer finished a rebound shy of a double-double at 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while the Statesmen's three double digit scorers included the game-high performance of 22 points from Javion Belle-McCrary with supporting performances of 19 points apiece from both Foday Sherrif and Daivion Boleware.

Clarke men's basketball will stay on the road for a rematch of a November meeting in the Kehl Center when they head to Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 28 to take on Grand View University for a scheduled 7:30 p.m. CT scheduled tip between the Vikings and Pride.