The Central Methodist men’s basketball program got back on track with a 75-68 road victory over Clarke University Saturday afternoon in Dubuque, Iowa. 

The Eagles snap a three-game losing streak and improve their overall record to 15-7 and 6-5 in conference play. Clarke falls to 10-10 and 5-6 in the Heart. 

“Finally, we had all our players back together,” wrote  CMU head coach Jeff Sherman on the team’s Facebook page. “It was a hard fought battle on the road, but we came away with an impressive victory.”

Central opened the game with six unanswered points and led by as many as six through the first 4:12 of the first half. Clarke evened the score and the contest remained a one-possession game for the next eight minutes. 

Sophomore Trent Lyles pushed Central’s lead to four on a jumper at the 5:59 mark before the Pride scored nine straight points to regain the lead, 32-27. The Eagles would battle back, converting four straight free-throw attempts including a key 3-pointer in the closing minutes of the half. The sides remained deadlocked at 37-37 entering the halftime break. 

CMU maintained a lead through a majority of the second until the 8:00 mark. Trailing by just one with a little under seven minutes to play, Central closed the game on a 15-7 scoring run to earn a seven-point victory. 

“We needed this one after a tough two weeks with a limited roster to compete with Covid protocols,” wrote Sherman.

Sophomore Jonathan Brown led the offense with 23 points playing all 40 minutes of action. The native of London, England grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists and recorded one steal. 

Senior forward Fode Camara had a monster game for the Eagles, as he tallied a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. 

Freshman Thomas Sowoolu and sophomore Isaiah May each recorded seven points while junior Dwayne McClendon and senior Tim Cameron both added six. 

The two teams proved to be effective from the charity stripe, as Central converted on 78.9 percent of its free-throw attempts, while Clarke finished the afternoon shooting over 83 percent. 

The Eagles also made 28-of-64 from the floor for 43.8 percent. 

Central will next travel to Lamoni, Iowa tonight to face Graceland at 7:30 p.m.