Strong start fades in Pride's 96-85 loss to Mount Mercy

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Playing their first game of the final month of the season, the Clarke University men's basketball team fell to Mount Mercy University by a final score of 96-85 in the Kehl Center on Wednesday night.

It was the road team that got off to a hot start, leading by as many as eight points in the opening four minutes at 15-7 before the Pride came roaring back to tie the game at 21-21 just about four minutes later, starting a back-and-forth stretch before a Jonovan Howard three pointer gave CU a 33-31 lead that they would hold all the way to a 53-45 lead at halftime.

Both teams had a strong offensive opening 20 minutes but especially so for Clarke, who went 22-for-36 (61.1%) from the field in the first half that included a 6-for-13 (46.2%) mark from three point range compared to MMU's 16-for-36 (44.4%) from the field with eight triples and five free throws to outscore CU by eight in those categories.

Unfortunately for the home team, that offensive success did not last into the second half where they would score just 32 points on 12-for-33 (36.4%) shooting from the field and 4-for-19 (21.1%) from deep where Mount Mercy improved significantly from two point range to go 19-for-31 (61.3%) from the field, which would include a 15-for-21 (71.4%) mark from inside the arc after going 4-for-10 (40%) from outside the arc.

Each half saw a different points lead from both sides with Aidan Yamilkoski of the Mustangs scoring all of his 13 points in the first half followed by the tandem of Brayson Laube and Jaxson Fried scoring 20 and 19 respectively in the second half to both top 20 points for the game with Fried leading all scorers at 27 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists and Laube had 25 points, five rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Howard was able to produce the best game of his collegiate career as the sophomore guard scored a career-high 22 points while adding seven rebounds and six assists, both one shy of tying his career-highs, in 34 minutes while shooting an efficient 10-for-16 (62.5%) from the field as he scored 18 of those 22 in the first half.

In the second half, Ivan Vukusic led CU with 14 of his 16 points coming in that half of the game, the only player with double figures in the final 20 minutes, as the junior forward dealt with foul trouble throughout as Lovre Stanovic had 13 points, Carson Lindauer added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Desmond Jones added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Clarke men's basketball will hit the road for the weekend matchup as they head to Parkville, Mo. for a 2:00 p.m. CT scheduled opening tip against Park University on Saturday, Feb. 7.