Kirkwood men’s basketball clinches spot in NJCAA tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — The wait is over for Tim Sandquist.

The sixth-year Kirkwood men’s basketball coach — hired one season after the Eagles’ last national championship in 2019 — has been scratching and clawing to get the program back to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s national tournament.

The only thing standing in his way was a rugged bunch from Iowa Central coached by Sandquist’s former assistant coach.

“A long time coming,” Sandquist said after the fourth-ranked Eagles edged Iowa Central, 63-61, in an NJCAA region championship game Saturday at Johnson Hall. “Just so proud of this group of guys. Twenty-nine and three, injuries, guys step up. I’m so happy for them. I’m so happy for the program that we’re back in Danville (Ill.).”

Kirkwood (29-3) will open the national tournament March 17 in Danville, Ill. The Eagles’ triumph comes at the expense of first-year Iowa Central Coach Ryan Kirsch, who was a Kirkwood assistant coach on the 2019 national championship team and was then retained for Sandquist’s first three seasons.

After its 9-0 start to the season was upended by Iowa Central at home in early December, Sandquist and the Eagles got the best of the next two meetings against Kirsch.

“He does a great job there,” Sandquist said. “They are so well-coached. Iowa Central was so tough tonight, but we were just a little bit better tonight.”

Lucas Lueth and reserve Germaine Benson led Kirkwood with 12 points apiece, but it was an 11-point second-half flurry off the bench from former Cedar Rapids Kennedy prep Colby Dolphin that helped the Eagles break a 49-49 tie and take the lead for good with less than eight minutes to go.

“It took toughness from everybody,” Dolphin said. “Just staying strong. We knew that we were going to keep it close the whole game, but we got to figure out a way to get up. We did and we just held on to it.”

Jordan Cain had 26 points for Iowa Central, which ends its season at 20-12.

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