Pride's first half surge leads to Blaine's 100th win in 91-86 final over Bethel (IN)

DUBUQUE, Iowa - The final day on the calendar for the year 2021 will be one to remember for the Clarke University men's basketball team as they earned a 91-86 win over Bethel University at the Kehl Center on Friday evening.

On the box score, it will appear as an ordinary non-conference win but it also marks the 100th career collegiate coaching victory for head coach Jim Blaine as the Pride's head coach. Blaine becomes just the second coach in the history of Clarke University men's basketball to reach the mark, joining Dubuque legend Jon Davison, who amassed 148 wins as the head coach for Clarke men's basketball.

It was a tight opening half that saw the Pilots hold the lead for a majority of the first 20 minutes including a seven-point lead at 39-32 with six minutes remaining. Starting with a Keith Johnson layup at the 5:12 mark, CU went on to finish the half on a 17-0 run to lead at the break 49-39 as the half was capped off by a nice defensive stop at the horn on a block from Anthony Eddy.

Eddy shined offensively as he came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points in 29 minutes while shooting 6-of-15 (40%) and hitting four of the Pride's 10 made three-point shots in the game. During the first half run and throughout the game Daquon Lewis added a strong defensive presence, finishing with four steals and six points, including an energizing steal leading to a breakaway dunk in the first half.

Jacob Fierst led the way offensively as he scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-19 (57.9%) shooting while adding 10 rebounds for a double-double, his fourth double-double of the season. Keith Johnson, Chandler Dean, and Biggie Luster all added double figures in the starting lineup for Clarke with Johnson pouring in 16, Dean adding 14, and Luster scoring 10 points.

Luster stuffed the stat sheet, getting a bulk of the point guard minutes with Jordan Lake missing Friday's contest due to his sister's wedding and Luster filled in in a big way with career-highs in assists (6), steals (4), and minutes played (36).

For Bethel, Zac Owens scored a team-high 23 points as he was supported by a 13-point, 13 rebound effort from Jani Griffth, along with 12 points from both Jared DeHart and Wesley Burse.

Clarke men's basketball will head back to Heart of America Conference play next Wednesday when they host Grand View University on Jan. 5 for a 7:30 p.m. CT scheduled tip against the Vikings.