Kirkwood Mens Basketball

No. 14 Eagles soar by Marshalltown

If you loved the way the Kirkwood Eagles played last season on their way to the national title, you had to enjoy what you saw at Johnson  Hall Wednesday night.

Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen certainly did.

The 14th-ranked Eagles played a terrific first half and rolled by Marshalltown, 100-80, in a non-conference affair.

Kirkwood (12-3) jumped to a quick 14-0 lead in the first four minutes and led 54-31 at halftime with a near-flawless performance. The score  was 30-9 midway through the first half.

"Probably the best basketball we've played all year," said Petersen.

The Eagles trimmed Marshalltown on the road, 78-75, in November, but the rematch was a blowout from start to finish.

Kirkwood opened 27-point leads in both halves and Marshalltown (13-6) never got closer than 20 points in the last 25 minutes of the game.

Marshalltown outscored the Eagles 49-46 in the second half, but most of that came in the latter stages of the game.

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No. 16 Eagles whip Illinois Central

PEORIA, Ill. - The 16th-ranked Kirkwood Eagles raised their record to 11-3 Saturday afternoon with a 74-62 victory over Illinois Central.

The game was tied at halftime, 28-28, but the Eagles outscored the hosts 46-34 in the second half.

Chris King popped in three 3-pointers and led Kirkwood with 17 points. Miles Wentzien and Ethan Meeker scored 13 points for the Eagles and Kaliph Fagan chipped in with 11. Meeker hit three triples.

Shakur Triplett finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Brian Conway scored 15 points for Illinois Central (8-7).

KIRKWOOD (74): Triplett 3 3-3 9, Harp 1 3-5 5, Jackson 1 0-0 2, Wentzien 3 7-8 13, Meeker 4 2-2 13, Fagan 2 7-8 11, C. King 6 2-2 17, Marble 0 0-1 0, Henry 0 0-0 0, D. King 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 24-29 74.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL (62): Bolden 2 0-0 4, Bradford 0 1-2 1, Conway 7 1-1 15, Cuevas 0 2-2 2, Dixon-Williams 3 4-4 10, Gilkey 1 0-0 3, Long 1 0-0 3, Louderman 0 0-0 0, Porter 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 2-5 6, Stinson 2 0-0 5, A. Williams 3 0-0 6, C. Williams 2 2-2 7. Totals 23 12-16 62.

Halftime - Kirkwood 28, Illinois Central 28. 3-point goals - Kirkwood 6 (C.King 3, Meeker 3), Illinois Central 4 (Gilkey 1, Long 1, Stinson  1, C. Williams 1).

Leaner Eagles sail by Clarke JV

The Kirkwood men's basketball team will be a much leaner group for the rest of the season with the loss of five reserves during the holiday  break.

The Eagles could be a much meaner group as well, in terms of making a run for a second straight national title.

The 16th-ranked Eagles sailed by the Clarke junior varsity, 129-52, in a tuneup at Johnson Hall Tuesday night in their first game with a trimmer roster.

Coach Bryan Petersen had only 10 players in uniform Tuesday and seven  of them scored in double figures. Chris King led the way with 23 points with five 3-pointers.

Derrick Howard, Darius Rice, Darias Oliver, Kameron Moore and Shawn Foxbrennen have left the club since the end of the first semester. Most of them were fairly deep reserves, and the 10 guys who are left  are the 10 who will decide Kirkwood's fate this year.

Petersen thinks a leaner roster could be good for the club after trying to hammer a 15-man team into a cohesive unit.

"That was something we were really struggling with the first semester," he said. "We didn't have a lot of defined roles, and now  we've got that with our numbers going down a little bit.

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New lineup sparks Kirkwood men

It's mid-December and the Kirkwood Eagles have already played 12  games, but Coach Bryan Petersen is still juggling his lineup and searching for the right formula that will give them a shot at another national crown.

He may have found a few answers Wednesday night.

Kirkwood started a new four-guard lineup against John Wood Community College and posted a comfortable 84-64 victory in a non-conference game at Johnson Hall.

Petersen has tinkered with the lineup much of the season in search of the right starting lineup and the right combination of subs.

"Day-by-day, we're still looking for a lot of answers from our group,"  he said. "You never have it completely figured out. Everybody says by January you should know your team, hopefully.

"It's not January yet, but at the same time I thought we'd probably be  a little further along than we are right now."

Petersen has a lot of talented players to choose from, including six guys who helped the Eagles capture the NJCAA Division II title last March and a talented group of newcomers.

Talent is not the issue, but chemistry and team cohesion are still a work in progress. The Eagles have a respectable 9-3 record, but they are no longer ranked No. 1 in the country and they lost to Black Hawk  College last week after drilling them by 44 points earlier in the year.

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