Pride open 2022-23 with 77-75 road win at St. Ambrose
DAVENPORT, Iowa - Getting a later start to their regular season than most, the Clarke University men's basketball 2022-23 start was worth the wait as the Pride earned a 77-75 win on the road against St. Ambrose University on Monday night.
In a game that was tightly contested for most of the game, CU took control of the game in the second half after losing their 39-38 halftime lead to the Fighting Bees' first make of the half but the Pride quickly regained the lead at 42-40 and never gave it up for the remaining 18:17 of the game.
"This was a very physical game and a good one for us to play," head coach Jim Blaine said. "The toughness of our guys to play from the lead and finish is encouraging going forward."
Early on in the game it was the offensive duo of Jacob Fierst and Anthony Eddy leading the way as they scored 17 of Clarke's first 20 points, seemingly having an answer for every shot that St. Ambrose made on the other end as SAU's largest lead came in the opening 20 minutes at a 25-20 lead.
That's when some of the depth came through for the Pride as Stef Vasic, Daquon Lewis, and Chris Burnell were able to get on the board to support the CU offensive effort before Fierst got back into a grove, ending the half by hitting a layup and a three at the buzzer to put Clarke up 39-38 at the half.
Fierst, who finished 2021-22 with five-straight games of 20 or more points and three out of five double-doubles, didn't skip a beat starting the season as he finished with a 29-point, 11-rebound double-double to lead the way for Clarke in both categories.
Eddy's hot shooting early carried him to a 17-point performance on 7-of-14 (50%) shooting from the field and 3-of-8 shooting from three as he and Fierst were joined in double figures by Biggie Luster as the sophomore finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting while adding six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a blocked shot.
Burnell, a transfer guard from Rock Valley Community College, finished with eight points and stuffed the stat sheet with eight assists and seven rebounds while only committing one turnover in 32 minutes.
Though turnovers were fairly even at 11 for the Fighting Bees and eight for the Pride, it was Clarke that took advantage of those giveaways from SAU, turning them into 17 points while St. Ambrose only scored five points off of turnovers.
"I thought we did a great job of being together," Blaine said. "That's going to be a key for us, as it is with any team, all year."
Clarke men's basketball will have a quick turnaround to prepare for their next opponent as the Pride will welcome William Woods University to the Kehl Center for a 5:00 p.m. CT tip on Wednesday evening as the opener of a non-conference doubleheader with Pride women's basketball.