WORCESTER, Mass.– Clark University men's basketball (3-2) returned home for the second time this season as they hosted Saint Joseph's College of Maine (2-2). The Cougars gained a double digit lead early in the second half, withstood numerous runs by the Monks, and secured a hard-fought 74-69 win.

How it Happened

• The Cougars came out strong, responding to an early layup by the Monks with a 7-0 run fueled by a three from senior Reid Neumann and four points, off a dunk and a layup, by sophomore Boluwasefe John.

• Both teams would go back and forth as the half continued, with Neumann adding six more points, three from the line and three from behind the arc. However, a three from John Paul Frazier would give the Monks their first lead since the early moments, 21-19 with 11:17 to play.

• Junior Christopher Clarke would give Clark the lead again with a layup off an offensive rebound, followed by a layup from first-year Aliaun Iscandari to add to the lead.

• Davis Mann would tie the game twice for Saint Joseph's over the next few minutes, first from the line and then with a layup to knot things up at 26 with 6:32 to play.

• Back-to-back threes by sophomore Kyle Squires and Iscandari would put the Cougars back up, with a Clarke layup at 2:25 giving Clark an eight-point lead, their largest of the game to that point.

• After three points by the Monks, Iscandari would sink another three to keep the lead at eight, 41-33, going into halftime.

• After trading threes to start the half, Clark took a double-digit cushion behind John's second dunk of the game just a minute in. John and Neumann followed with layups to complete a 9-0 run and make it 50-36.

• The lead would briefly drop under ten after back-to-back Monks layups, but a layup by first-year Elijah Small and an and-one layup by Iscandari pushed it back to 57-44 with 13:08 to play.

• The lead again reached single digits off a layup by Mann, but a quick three by Iscandari extended it. Following two blocks on the same possession by John, he scored inside to make it 62-50 with 10:34 to play.

• A layup by junior Quentin Pridgen gave Clark their largest lead, but the Monks battled back, with a jumper by Kolbyn Dunphe cutting it to 66-59 with 7:18 remaining.

• After a layup by Clarke, Saint Joseph's again cut into the lead, this time down to four after a Frazier layup with 3:08 left.

• Twice the lead would drop to a single point, but a free throw by Pridgen and a huge layup by Iscandari made it 72-69 with 29 seconds remaining.

• Following an offensive rebound, a game-tying three-point attempt was blocked by John to keep Clark ahead with seven seconds left.

• Another game-tying attempt was blocked by Small, and two Iscandari free throws iced the game as the Cougars secured their first home win of the season, 74-69.

Inside the Box Score

• Clark shot 25-59 (42.4 percent) from the field, dished out 13 assists, collected 39 rebounds, and forced 16 turnovers off 12 steals.

• Iscandari had a career-high 24 points, his third game this season with 20 or more. He added five steals, giving him 17 steals (3.2 per game) on the year.

• Neumann kept his 10+ point streak alive with 13 points, also adding two steals.

• John finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.

• Pridgen did a bit of everything with seven points, eight assists, four rebounds, three steals, and a block. He has half of the team's assists this season, 31 of 72, averaging 6.2 per game.

What's Next

The Scarlet and White hit the road again on Saturday as they travel to Western Connecticut State for a 1 PM showdown with the Wolves.