Metro Sports Report

Mount Mercy men fall at Clarke

DUBUQUE - The Mount Mercy men's basketball team lost to Clarke, 88-78,  in a Heart of America Conference game in Dubuque Thursday night.

Dennis McKinney led the Mustangs (5-4, 2-3) with 28 points, five  rebounds, four assists, three steals and two assists. He made five  3-pointers.

Davion Watson contributed 14 points and seven rebounds for Mount  Mercy. RoyShawn Webb scored 10 points.

Nick Marshall scored 22 points and Darius Lasley had 21 points for  Clarke (5-5, 3-3).

No. 21 Clarke tops Mount Mercy women

DUBUQUE - The 21st-ranked Clarke women's basketball team defeated  Mount Mercy, 91-65, Thursday night in a Heart of America Conference  game in Dubuque.

Abbie Kinnaird scored 14 points for the Mustangs (2-6, 1-4). Brianna  Thomas had 12 points and Sofia Popp netted 10. Popp was 10-for-10 at  the foul line.

Makenna Haase scored 20 points for Clarke (8-2, 4-2).

There were 56 fouls in the 40-minute game, including 34 by Mount Mercy.

Muhl collects 900th win with No. 1 Eagles

KEOKUK - Kim Muhl quietly and humbly collected his 900th victory as  the head coach of the Kirkwood women's basketball program Wednesday  night when the top-ranked Eagles clipped Southeastern, 73-66, in the  ICCAC conference opener in Keokuk.

There was no announcement to the crowd after the game. And there was  no celebration, no hugs and apparently no mention of the achievement  by Muhl's players in the locker room.

"I don't know if they knew or not. Which is good," he said during a  telephone interview on the bus ride back to Cedar Rapids.

Muhl did give himself a treat before heading home. "A hamburger at  Wendy's," he said, laughing.

Muhl, 64, has posted an incredible record at Kirkwood with 900 wins  and only 158 losses in 31 years, with seven national titles along the  way. As usual, he downplayed Wednesday's milestone.

"It's one of those things," he remarked. "You don't think about it  right now, because you're getting ready for Iowa Lakes on Saturday.  Maybe next summer I'll think about it.

Appel returns to help lift Eagles

Luke Appel has spent too much time on the disabled list this season  for the Kirkwood Eagles.

First he rolled his ankle and missed two games early in the year, then  he suffered a freak injury in the weight room a few weeks ago and  missed three more outings.

Appel returned Wednesday night and scored 20 points as the 16th-ranked  Eagles topped Marshalltown, 89-73, in a non-conference game at Johnson  Hall.

Appel stopped by the trainer's room after the contest for them to  examine the tip of his ring finger on his left hand, which is his  shooting hand. He's lucky the entire finger is still there.

"I dropped a weight and broke my finger in the weight room," he  explained. "It cracked my finger straight in half. You could see the  bone.

"I almost amputated my finger," he said.

When he dropped the 45-pound plate, his finger got caught underneath.  It's still bent out of shape and discolored, but he felt good enough  to play.