Second Half Surge by Clarke Too Much for Broncos
(Seward, NE) – The men’s basketball team took on Clarke in their first game of two at the Cattle Classic in Seward. They had a 34-31 halftime lead, but a 10-0 Clarke run midway through the second half led to a 84-69 win for the Pride.
(Seward, NE) – The men's basketball team took on Clarke in their first game of two at the Cattle Classic in Seward. They had a 34-31 halftime lead, but a 10-0 Clarke run midway through the second half led to a 84-69 win for the Pride.
Clarke came out strong and took a 15-0 lead five minutes into the game, making five of their first seven shots. Sophomore Maverick Binder got Hastings on the board with a three-pointer, then freshman Riley Bombeck went on a solo 5-0 run with a three, followed by a steal and layup to make it 15-8 with 12:54 left in the half. Down 18-13, junior Ben Boudreau pulled up for two and after an empty pride possession, Boudreau found Binder for a three to tie it at 18 at the 8:50 mark.
Hastings took their first lead of the game at 21-20 on the third three of the half from Binder. Sophomore Micah Hinrichs grew the lead with a made jumper and drained a three-pointer following a steal by Binder to go up 26-21. The Broncos got their biggest lead of the half at seven on a Boudreau triple but Clarke came back and got to within one at 29-28 with 1:35 left in the first half. Hastings took advantage of a technical by Clarke at the end of the first half, with Binder knocking down two free throws to lead 34-31 at the break.
Senior DaRon Hall scored on two of the first three possessions in the second half to go up 38-33. Hastings continued to lead, as senior Myles Simon drained a three to go up 45-41 five minutes into the half. A 10-0 run by the Pride over the next three minutes changed the momentum to go up 51-47 and Hastings was never able to fully recover, as Clarke went up nine with 10 minutes left.
Binder hit a three and forced a turnover, leading to a layup to cut the lead to four a minute later, but Clarke pushed the lead back to nine with 6:08 left. The Pride grew the lead to 14 on a pair of free throws with 4:10 to go and they went on to win it, 84-69.
Clarke shot 54 percent overall and 68 percent in the second half, while Hastings shot 39 percent for the game. The Pride also held a 35-30 rebounding edge and forced 13 Bronco turnovers. Binder had 18 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Hinrichs came off the bench to score 18 points and grab six rebounds.
Up next, Hastings will have a rematch against Oklahoma City, who they lost to by 10 points eight days ago, tomorrow at 4pm in Seward, NE.
