Warriors score road win over Crusaders

By Matt Oliver

DUBUQUE – The Waldorf College men’s basketball team completed the season sweep over Clarke University, scoring a 93-86 victory on Friday.

“We played very well overall, offensively,” Waldorf coach Nigel Jenkins said.

Erik Brewer powered the Warriors (16-12) with a game-high 33 points. The 6-foot-6 senior forward from Las Vegas shot 63.2 percent, going 12-of-19 from the field and 6-of-10 (60 percent) from 3-point range.

Brewer caught fire from the opening tip, torching the Crusaders (13-15) with 20 first-half points on a 7-of-10 (70-percent) clip from the floor and 4-of-6 (66.7-percent) effort from downtown.

“Erik got hot really early,” Jenkins said. “They were playing zone defense and for whatever reason, they kept leaving Erik open and he was able to knock down shots.”

Waldorf senior Tyler Parrish poured in 15 points and was disruptive on the defensive end as he collected a career-high six steals.

Junior June Prowell added 13 points for the Warriors while turning in team-highs with eight rebounds and four assists. Prowell, who converted on all nine of his trips to the free-throw line, also came away with four steals.

Waldorf’s Michael Morgan provided 10 points, six boards, two blocked shots and two steals. The 6-foot-4 junior forward from Charlotte, Tennessee, dropped in 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) shots from the field.

The Warriors received eight points apiece from junior Brandon Silva and sophomore Kaden Verdin. It was a strong showing for Silva, who logged 17 minutes off the bench and helped Waldorf claim an 18-15 advantage in bench points.

“Brandon came in and gave us some great minutes and some good production,” Jenkins said. “That’s what we’re still searching for is production from our bench.”

Waldorf sophomore Eric English finished with four points. Freshman Josiah Smith contributed two points in his first varsity appearance.

“Josiah gave us some good minutes, defensively,” Jenkins said.

Jud Salisbery led Clarke with 22 points, hitting 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) attempts from the floor and 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) from behind the arc. Brinsley Walker scored 18 points, finishing 9-of-12 (75 percent) from the field.

Clarke’s David Neis netted 12 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. Connor Morningstar closed out the night with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Haris Takes also reached double figures, scoring 10 points for the Crusaders.

Clarke jumped out to a 21-15 lead with 14 minutes, 17 seconds to play in the first half. After paying the price for leaving shooters open early in the contest, the Warriors buckled down on the defensive end.

“Defensively, we did a great job in the first half of making them take some tough shots,” Jenkins said.

Waldorf responded with a 26-8 run, storming to a 41-29 advantage with 4:53 remaining in the opening half. The Warriors held a 43-35 halftime lead.

Continuing to pour it on in the second half, Waldorf led 70-47 with 12:44 to go.

The Crusaders charged back, shooting 71.4 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes of the game. They buried 20-of-28 shots from the floor and went 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from 3-point land in the second half.

Clarke outscored the Warriors 39-18 in a 12-minute span, inching two within two points to trail 88-86 with 42 seconds left on the clock.

“We kind of lost focus and intensity on the defensive end, which you can’t do,” Jenkins said. “We’re still trying to find a way to keep our defensive focus for 40 minutes.”

Down the stretch, Silva and Prowell combined to go 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to ice the win.

“At the end of the day, you want to win and we won, so we’ve got to move on,” Jenkins said.

The Crusaders committed 21 turnovers and Waldorf produced a 29-13 advantage in points off turnovers while forcing 16 steals. Turnovers slowed the Warriors in the second half. They committed eight of their 16 turnovers in the final stanza.

“Some untimely turnovers led to easy buckets for those guys, so we’ve got to be better,” Jenkins said.

Clarke outscored Waldorf 42-38 in the paint. The Crusaders shot 56.9 percent for the game, sinking 33-of-58 attempts from the field and finishing 9-of-18 (50 percent) from 3-point range. Waldorf went 33-of-70 (47.1 percent) from the floor and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) behind the arc.

The Warriors knocked down 69 percent of their foul shots, converting on 20-of-29 trips to the line while Clarke turned in an 11-of-20 (55-percent) effort.

Waldorf won the battle on the boards, 39-30. The Warriors controlled the offensive glass by a 16-6 margin and came away with an 8-6 edge in second-chance points.

Friday marked Waldorf’s second victory over Clarke this season. The Warriors raced past the Crusaders in an 82-57 win on Jan. 25 at Forest City.

Waldorf closes out the regular season on Saturday, taking on Silver Lake College (9-23) at 5 p.m. at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It’s the final test for the Warriors before opening next week’s North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Tournament.

“Silver Lake is a big team,” Jenkins said. “They’ve got some guys who can make some plays and they play hard. They can be a tough team, so we’re going to really have to dig in on the defensive end to finish this year right and head into the conference tournament with a win.”