Pride force overtime but fall to Culver-Stockton
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Looking to defend a two-game home winning streak, the Clarke University men's basketball team fell by a 94-83 final in overtime to Culver-Stockton College on Wednesday night in the Kehl Center.
The Pride were outscored 17-6 in the extra period after needing a Jake Layman three pointer to tie the game at 77-77 with 2.6 seconds remaining in regulation as Biggie Luster found Layman at the top of the key for his second triple of the night to force an extra five minutes.
Luster finished with 17 points on a rough 6-of-20 shooting night but didn't let the poor shooting stop him from working on both ends of the floor as he also finished with a game-high 18 rebounds also with four assists, three steals, and three blocked shots playing every second of the 45-minute contest.
Layman finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field while adding six rebounds in 28 minutes as he dealt with foul trouble at various points in the game before fouling out in over time. Both Anthony Eddy and Daquon Lewis finished in double figures as well with Eddy scoring a team-high 19 points and Lewis finishing at 10 points and seven rebounds in 43 minutes.
Clarke had strong opening 20 minutes as they went on a run in the middle of the first half to go from trailing 22-21 to their largest lead of the game at eight points behind a scoring surge from sophomore Nick Bryant, who scored seven-straight of the team's 9-0 run after Chris Burnell knocked down a jumper as Bryant scored two free throws, a layup and a three pointer on three-straight possessions to give CU a 30-22 lead.
Bryant finished with the best game of his young career as the sophomore from Peosta, Iowa recorded career-highs in points (8) and assists (3), leading a bench unit that saw Carson Lindauer score six points and grab three rebounds with Michael Kascel scoring four points and grabbing three boards of his own.
The Wildcats would go on a run to cut it to a one-point lead at 37-36 but Clarke would finish with four-straight to end the half leading by five at a 41-36 score that would be mirrored by Culver-Stockton in the second half after tying the game at 52-52 within the first seven minutes of the second half then taking their first lead just under 12 minutes to go in the second half.
CU's largest deficit in the second half was six as they would cut it to a one-point game with the shot clock off but a missed three point attempt from the Pride and two free throws from the Wildcats make it a three-point game where Layman's three pointer to tie the game became necessary to keep Clarke alive.
Culver-Stockton was led by a trio of 20-point scorers with Connor Davis leading the way with a 26-point night on 9-of-14 shooting from the field as Robert Fry II scored 21 points and Seth Larson also scored 21 but added 13 rebounds for a double-double.
Clarke men's basketball will hit the road this weekend when they travel to Baldwin City, Kan. for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Baker University with a 2:00 p.m. CT scheduled tip between the Pride and Wildcats.