Eagles fall to Southwestern on Saturday, March 21

By JJ Peters on March 25, 2021

It was a rough game for the Kirkwood Community College men`s basketball team on Saturday, March 21, 2021.

The 17th ranked Eagles traveled to Creston, Iowa, to take on the Spartans of Southwestern. The Spartans dominated the Eagles 83-62.

The Spartans looked strong, especially in the second half. However, the game was remarkably close in the first half as Kirkwood flirted with a lead going into the half. But that was not the case and the Spartans took a 35-28 lead.

Kirkwood’s six-game winning streak ended after falling to Southwestern. Seventeenth ranked Kirkwood looked good early but struggled at the end of the first half and trailed by 7.

Chris Burnell led the way for the Eagles with 15 points, 2 assists and 1 board. However, Burnell was not the main story in the first half. It was first-year student and sharpshooter Noah King. King dropped 11 points and 5 rebounds. King drilled 2 big 3-pointers in the first half to keep the Eagles in the game.

Corvon Seals struggled but finished the game with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 dimes. Seals and King lead the way for Kirkwood in the scoring department for the season with 10.7 ppg.

Jaden Keller came away with 9 points and Caleb Delzell had 7 points.

After the loss the Eagles are 5th in the ICCAC standings. Kirkwood will next face Marshalltown on Wednesday. The Eagles will hope to start another win streak against their next opponent. The season is ending soon and the team is planning to finish the season strong.

Southwestern is now 10-8 and is sixth currently in the ICCAC. Justin Graham led the way in scoring with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Graham was also 6 of 8 from shooting and shot 50 percent from the 3-point line. His teammate James Kelly was second in scoring. Kelly dropped 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 dimes. Donzell Johnson and Joe Kearney both finished with 10 points. Southwestern next game is a big one. They travel to Ottumwa to take on Indian Hills. The Warriors are 18-2, first in the ICCAC, and are ranked 10 in division one of the NJCAA.