Lake captures assist record in tight 89-88 loss to William Penn
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Giving the No. 2 team in the NAIA rankings all they can handle, the Clarke University men's basketball team dropped a one-point game to William Penn University 89-88 at the Kehl Center Wednesday night.
The Pride held an 88-87 lead with 6.4 second remaining in the game as Chanze Cruesoe went the length of the floor to hit a fallaway shot that bounced off the rim and fell in with 0.8 seconds remaining to all but clinch a last-second win for the Statesmen before CU gave Keith Johnson a chance at a late heave from three-quarters court that fell short to official give WPU the win.
With a little over 10 seconds remaining, Clarke called the number of Jordan Lake down 87-86 as Lake was fouled on a drive with that 6.4 second mark on the clock where he hit both of his free throws to give the Pride the slim advantage after making his 10th and 11th free throws of the night.
It was looking like a storybook game for Lake as he finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and four assists where his second assist of the night broke the Clarke all time record for assists in a career, topping the 389 mark set by Demonte Bynum from 2003 to 2008.
Neither team led by double figures in the second half after the Pride were up by 10 in the first half on multiple occasions at the latest with a 42-32 lead with 4:34 left in the first half. The Statesmen were able to cut into the lead before halftime as the Pride only led 45-41 at the break.
In the second half, Clarke extended their advantgae back out to nine points at 56-47 before taking the best shot from William Penn as the Statesmen went on a 14-0 run to take a 61-56 lead still with 12:51 remaining in the game. WPU's largest lead of the contest was an eight-point advantage with 10:08 remaining before the Pride went on a run of their own to go from down 72-64 to up 76-74 where the game remained tight throughout the remainder of the game.
William Penn's Kevion Blaylock finished with a game-high 31 points as no other player for the Statesmen had more than 10 points as Cruesoe, Malyk Thomas, and Josh Watkins all finished with 10.
For the Pride, Jacob Fierst led the way with 26 points and 11 rebounds for another double-double for the big man as Lake added his 24 points, Johnson scored 17, and Anthony Eddy added 11 off the bench.
Clarke men's basketball will now hit the road for a single game away from the Kehl Center this Saturday when they face Missouri Valley College for a 2:00 p.m. CT scheduled tip in Marshall Mo.