Pride get first win of 2023 after defeating Culver-Stockton 71-55

DUBUQUE, Iowa – After a couple tough loses to begin the new year, the Clarke University men's basketball team were able to get their first win of 2023 after defeating Culver-Stockton College 71-55 Wednesday evening in front of the Kehl Center crowd.

The Wildcats led 21-14 with 8:55 left in the first half before the Pride would go on a 23-6 run to close it out, including a buzzer-beating three from junior Chris Burnell to extend their lead to 37-27 at the half. Burnell was already in double-figures with 13 points on 4-7 shooting and chipped in five assists. Fellow Rockford, Illinois native Biggie Luster was all over the glass in the first 20 minutes as he had seven boards and created offense through his three steals, which all led to scores.

The Wildcats would pull within six points multiple times in the second half, but the Pride wouldn't surrender their lead the rest of the game as they would build their lead up to as much as 20. The Pride finished the game shooting 45.2% from the floor and 30.4% from three-point range. The Pride took care of the basketball this evening as they only turned it over seven times, which is well below their average of 12 per game. They went onto winning the turnover battle 14-7 and scored 22 points off their 14 turnovers.

Leading the way for the Pride was Burnell as he finished the game with 20 points on 4-5 shooting from three and added seven assists. The Pride had four other players in double-figures as Dubuque native Daquon Lewis scored 14 points on an efficient 7-10 from the floor and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Chandler Dean finished with 11 points and Anthony Eddy scored 10. Luster was two points shy of his fourth double-double of the season as he finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.

The Wildcats had a strong performance from Robert Fry II as he finished with 17 points on 5-9 from the floor and 6-6 from the free throw stripe. In just 17 minutes off the bench, Jalen Blaize shot 3-5 from deep and finished with 12 points.

The Pride men's basketball team will next play Saturday, January 14th at 2:00 pm CST against conference foe, Peru State.