Pride Start 2-0 After 72-70 Thriller

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Clarke University men's basketball team is 2-0 after defeating William Woods University 72-70 in the home opener Wednesday evening in the Kehl Center.

In a game where the Pride led the entire first half, led by senior Anthony Eddy's 12 points, the Pride didn't give up that lead until early in the second half.

The game started with a pair of Chris Burnell jumpers and the Pride were off and running and built a 10-4 run to start and kept the Owls from scoring a field-goal for the first three minutes of the game. The Pride built up a lead as large as seven points with 7:22 left to play in the half. The Pride went into the locker room with a 38-36 lead and shot 48% from the field.

The Owls took their first lead of the game at 42-40 with 18:41 to play after a sloppy pass from the Pride's Dean Chandler and taken the other way by Fred Robinson for a breakaway dunk. From then on, the Pride were tested until the final buzzer.

The Owls had a chance to take control of the game after a Nathan Schwartze jumper gave them their largest lead of the evening at 46-42 with 16:40 left to play. The Pride answered right back on their next possession, when Dean Chandler converted a three-point play to halt the Owls momentum.

With just over a minute left in the game, the Owls found themselves up 70-69 after a pair of free throws. The Pride's Chandler Dean, who finished with 11 points, made the biggest bucket of the game. A top of the key three gave the Pride a 72-70 lead with 1:02 left.

Pride's Biggie Luster made a potential game saving block with 36 seconds left on the Owls' Schwartze that erupted the Kehl Center crowd. On the ensuing possession, the Pride forced a miss and had a chance to put away William Woods with a pair of free throws. The Pride missed both and finished the game at a woeful 15-26 for 57%. This gave the Owls one more chance at a tie or a lead, however Schwartze pulled up from well passed the three-point arc and the ball came up short as the horn sounded for a 72-70 Pride victory.

Luster was a leader on the defensive end of the floor tonight, which included two blocks and a steal. When asked about Biggie, coach Blaine said, "Biggie, defensively, just gets it. Gets our rules. Understands how we play defensively. He made two huge defensive plays down the stretch."

Senior center Jake Fierst finished as the Pride's leading scorer with 20 points and had 6 boards.

The Clarke men's basketball team will hit the road for a Friday night game in McPherson, Kansas as they will take on the McPherson Bulldogs in their first game of the Bulldog Classic at 8 PM CST.