Unable to overcome early deficit, Pride drop road game to Grand View

DES MOINES, Iowa - Facing off for the second time this season after a Nov. 19 matchup, the Clarke University men's basketball team fell by a final score of 76-64 on Wednesday night to Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.

A wire-to-wire to victory for the home team, the Vikings outshot the Pride 47.5 percent to 34.3 percent while hitting three more three pointers, outrebounding the Pride 37-35, and scoring six more points in the paint over the the 40-minute contest.

GVU's largest lead came early in the second half as they would come out of a nine-point halftime lead to go on a quick 9-2 run to lead 47-31 before Clarke was able to cut that lead in half with their own 8-0 run over a similar stretch of time with the closest they would come was a five-point deficit after a three-point play from Jonovan Howard that made it 64-59 with 4:43 left to play.

Howard would finish with a career-high 18 points despite the loss while also adding eight rebounds, also a career-high, two steals, and an assist with Lovre Stanovic (11) and Devon Junghans (10) also finishing in double digits and Nick Bryant adding a seven-point, four-rebound game.

Four of the five Grand View starters produce double digit scoring performances led by 20 points from Jaxson Young as he added seven rebounds similar to the seven rebounds and 13 points from Lukas Helms with Daviyon Gaston and Patrick Worrell adding 16 and 11 respectively.

Clarke men's basketball will return home for their next game when they host Missouri Valley College on Saturday, Jan. 31 for a 2:00 p.m. CT scheduled tip between CU and MVC in the Kehl Center.