Kirkwood to take on DMACC on Saturday

CEDAR RAPIDS - Driving two hours to play the No. 2 basketball team in the nation seems like a tall task, but it's the one the Kirkwood men wanted.

The eighth-ranked Eagles earned that chance after surviving Southwestern, 86-80, Thursday night in an NJCAA Division II Region XI tournament semifinal at Johnson Hall.

Second-seeded Kirkwood (25-6) takes on top-seeded and second-ranked DMACC (25-5) in Saturday's championship game at Boone. Tipoff is 3 p.m.

The Eagles were swept by DMACC during the regular season by a total of seven points, dropping an 88-87 overtime decision at home and losing 66-60 at Boone.

'We know we're the better team,” said sophomore Matt Lassen, a former Linn-Mar prep who scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half for Kirkwood.

'We want DMACC,” said sophomore Ajay Lawton, who scored 12 of his 27 points in the first half to help the Eagles to a 38-33 lead. 'They beat us twice. It's not going to happen three times.”

'I agree with them,” Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen said. '(DMACC) is a very good team. They beat us twice. They won our conference. But we think we're better than them.”

Kirkwood is bidding for its first regional title and national tournament berth since 2011.

Kirkwood beat Southwestern by margins of 24 and 17 points during the regular season, but the Spartans (23-10) were a tough out last night.

Lassen drained three 3-pointers to key an 18-4 flurry after Southwestern had taken its largest lead of the game, 60-55, with 9:55 to play.

'I got a couple open looks and the shots started falling,” Lassen said. 'My teammates kept setting me up.”

The Eagles held the lead, although its was but 81-80 when freshman Jok Kut scored for Southwestern with 26 seconds to play. Kut led the Spartans with 22 points.

Joseph Tagarelli knocked down a pair of free throws and Ronald Singleton made 3 of 4 in the final 18 second to put the game away for the Eagles.

'We're a great free-throw shooting team,” said Lawton. The Eagles shot 79 percent from the line for the season and were 14 of 17 last night.