Streaking Kirkwood Eagles a win away from nationals after 90-61 rout of Iowa Central

CEDAR RAPIDS – All season, the Kirkwood men's basketball team has been a team of streaks.

If the Eagles hope to continue the current streak all the way to nationals, they'll need to vanquish the opponent which ended the last one.

Sixth-ranked Kirkwood received contributions from 10 different scorers in a 90-61 rout of Iowa Central in an NJCAA Division II men's basketball regional semifinal Thursday night at Johnson Hall.

'We've got players on our team that can start on any team,' guard Kaliph Fagan said. 'That's what makes us so good. We've got players that can come off the bench and bring just as much as the starters. That's what makes us different from each team.'

Fagan came off the bench and led top-seeded Kirkwood (26-4) with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. The freshman also grabbed seven rebounds, which tied for the team lead.

'We wanted to start on defense,' Fagan said. 'That's really where the focus was on this game today. Come out on defense. Once we got stops, we were able to run out on offense.'

The victory sets up a regional championship game at Johnson Hall at 3 p.m. on Saturday with 18th-ranked Iowa Lakes (25-7), which handed the Eagles their last defeat on Feb. 6.

'We've learned from that, we bounced back and we're defending now,' Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen said.

A win Saturday would earn Kirkwood its first regional championship since the last of four straight from 2008-11.

The Eagles have won seven games in a row since the Iowa Lakes loss, their second seven-game win streak this season. Their defense was a big reason Thursday night's score got out of hand as a 16-5 surge sent the Eagles to the halftime locker room with a 17-point lead at 45-28.

'If we can guard people, that gives you a chance,' Petersen said. 'That gives you a chance any time, but then this time of year you've got to guard people.'

Forward Da'Rion King scored 14 points for the Eagles, who led by as many 31 points in the closing minute. Hunter Rhodes and Nick Richards added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

AT JOHNSON HALL

IOWA CENTRAL (61):

Wright 2-12 4-6 8, Moorer 7-22 3-7 17, Frazier 2-4 2-3 8, Baldwin 6-16 4-6 18, Sturgill 2-3 4-4 8, Motley 0-0 0-0 0, Burgart 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 0-0 0-2 0, Fransis 0-0 0-0 0, Moaku 1-2 0-1 2, Cousins 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 20-59 17-29 61.

KIRKWOOD (90):

Bartlett 2-5 0-0 4, Rhodes 4-9 3-3 13, Richards 5-8 1-2 11, Olson 4-6 0-0 9, King 5-7 4-5 14, Jackson 0-4 0-3 0, Harp 2-3 0-0 5, Fagan 6-9 3-3 16, Meier 3-3 0-0 6, Wilson 2-4, 2-2 6, Henry 0-1 0-0 0, Triplett 3-4 0-0 6, Totals 36-63 13-15 90.

Halftime – Kirkwood, 45-28. Three-point goals – IC 4-23 (Frazier 2-3, Baldwin 2-9, Wright 0-2, Moorer 0-9), Kirkwood 5-19 (Rhodes 2-6, Fagan 1-1, Harp 1-2, Olson 1-2, Richards 0-2, Bartlett 0-3). Rebounds – IC 28 (Wright 9), Kirkwood 41 (Fagan 7, Jackson 7). Assists – IC 4 (Wright 2), Kirkwood 15 (Richards 6). Turnovers – Iowa Central 13, Kirkwood 16. Totals fouls – Iowa Central 17, Kirkwood 24. Fouled out –

Sturgill.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com