Grand View hits late free throws as Pride lose by one

DES MOINES, Iowa - Getting back to official game action for the first time since Dec. 16, the Clarke University men's basketball team opened the new year with a 74-73 defeat to Grand View University on Wednesday night.

For a majority of the opening 27 minutes of the game, the Pride led from the jump as they opened the game on a 9-0 run and didn't relinquish that lead until Grand View took a 46-45 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining in the second half.

That wouldn't stop CU from continuing to fight as they only trailed by three points at most to reclaim the lead multiple times then finally going on a 7-0 run to take a 65-58 lead with about 7:30 remaining and holding a lead that was as large at 11 points until under a second remaining in the game.

Trailing 71-60 as late as 5:30 left in the game, the Vikings would end the game on a 14-2 run with the final blow coming from the free throw line as Connor Robertson was fouled attempting a three pointer with the clock stopped at 0.7 seconds as Robertson would step to the line and sink all three free throw attempts to take the game from a 73-71 CU advantage to the 74-73 Grand View victory.

Those free throws were half of Robertson's scoring output as he would finish with six points with three of his fellow starters finishing in double figures led by a game-high 21 points from Markell Hood as Jaxson Young added 19 points and eight assists and Jacob Koontz had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double.

For the Pride, Anthony Eddy scored 20 points on 7-of-22 (31.8%) shooting from the field as Biggie Luster (14), Daquon Lewis (11), and Jake Layman (10) added double figures for CU with Luster finishing with 12 rebounds for a double-double of his own.

Clarke will finish up their winter break portion of the schedule on the road when they head to Marshall, Mo. for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Missouri Valley College for a 2:00 p.m. CT tip against those Vikings.