Layman scores 28 as Pride handle St. Ambrose 83-75

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Clarke University men's basketball team handed St. Ambrose University their first loss of the season after an 83-75 victory Wednesday evening in the Kehl Center.

With 1:03 to play in the game and the Pride holding a 79-75 lead, the Fighting Bees attempted to make a stop with a full-court press, but it was quickly broken giving the Pride a three on two advantage down the court. Rob Chaney found a trailing Jake Layman cutting down the lane for a two-handed dunk to increase the lead to 81-75 with 55 seconds left.

Looking to steal a bucket off the dunk, Jake Friel of SAU raced down the floor to take a quick shot, but Layman met Friel at the rim and swatted the ball to a teammate to put an end to a Bees comeback.  

With Clarke leading 36-24 at halftime, SAU started the second half on a 17-9 run to cut the deficit down to 45-41 with 14:33 remaining, which was as close as the Bees would get until the 1:03 mark.

Halfway through the first half, SAU would only get nine shot attempts compared to CU's 19 in that time frame as SAU would only be able to muster 11 points on 4-9 (44.4%) shooting from the floor.

Scoring 11 of the Pride's first 19 points, Layman would go on to score the most points in his short Pride career. He would finish his evening with 28 points on 8-13 (61.5%) shooting from the floor and 2-3 (66.6%) shooting from deep.

Starting in his first game since being lost to an injury after only playing in six games a year ago, it was fitting that Jacob Fierst scored the first bucket of the ballgame. Fierst would go 5-11 (45.4%) shooting from the floor finishing with 10 points in 16 minutes of work.

Earning his seventh double-double of his career, Biggie Luster shot an efficient 8-12 (66.6%) from the floor, ending with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and a block.

Leading offensively for SAU, Elgin Bowen Jr. finished with 15 points on 5-7 (71.4%) shooting. Three others finished in double figures as Jake Friel scored 13 points with six assists, Ignacio Dacunda scored 12 points and grabbed five boards, and Guillermo Narbona scored 10 points.

The Pride will have another game this week, starting Heart of America Conference play against William Penn University on Saturday, Nov. 11th beginning at 4:00 P.M. CST.